Brooklyn Ski Club: Rock And Roll Circus Night One (So So Glos & Japanther Destroyed)

Last night was the first night of the Rock And Roll Circus at the Big Apple Circus tent in Lincoln Center. The show was free and some of Brooklyn's finest were playing. That combined with the fact that it's a show in a fucking circus tent meant there was no way I was missing it.

I got to the show early because I was worried about getting in. Turns out the tent is gigantic so I had nothing to worry about. After I got in I roamed around for a few minutes and eventually went to grab a beer. There was a sign on the bar that said, "$8 Beer, $12 Mixed Drinks". I'm used to pricey drinks at shows but holy shit man! And the cups were little 12 oz. joints.

Luckily, it was at this point that I checked my email and found out I was on the press list which not only got me backstage and front row seats but also came with free Sixpoint and Belvedere from the VIP bar! Drink in hand I was ready to party!

We entered the back room of the tent which was a big circus ring. There was a huge lit up "Big Apple" sign overlooking the circle with a slide coming down from a platform onto the floor. The show started with a huge drag queen who cracked a few jokes and announced the first band, Electric Tickle Machine. One by one the band members slid down the slide into the circle and took their places.

The tambourine player/hype man of the band was wearing a crazy balloon thing on arms with high waisted leather pants and green shades. I've seen ETM before at a DIY show at Shangri-La in Greenpoint. They were pretty good then but man, they've come a long way. They were fucking amazing last night! Super high energy, amazing songs and a great presence. They even included a cover of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" which was pretty damn good, and it ain't easy covering the Beatles.

After ETM finished up we went back for some more booze and wandered around a bit more. They had all types of booths set up for face-painting and shit like that but no carnival games. I would have dug a few carnival games but it's cool.

We missed the first song or two by So So Glos, they were already playing when we made it back to the circle. They sounded great but the vibe was kinda mellow for an SSG show. They noticed this too and invited everyone onto the floor to dance. At first everyone looked at each other wondering if they were serious and if rushing the floor would be kosher. Then our favorite drummer and good friend, Jamen of Regal Degal, ran out there and, upon seeing one person do it, a stampede followed.

Now there were about 75 kids on the floor dancing and crowd surfing and just having some fun. It was quite a sight with the circus tent and "Big Apple" sign as a back drop. They played about two or three songs with the crowd just going totally apeshit.

Then they announced that they had one more and upon kicking off the last song it got even crazier. Halfway through the last song of the set security rushes the crowd and
starts grabbing people one-by-one and asking them to go back to their seats. Most complied but a few kids just kept dancing and were surrounded and corraled off of the floor. No matter though because by the time they cleared everyone out the So So Glos were finished. It was fucking fantastic and the Brooklyn kids really went hard and made a stuffy show super fun.

The next two bands were Voxhaul Broadcast and The Pharmacy. Frankly, I don't know much about these bands so I took this time to wander around a bit more and have a few more drinks. I poked my head in for both bands just in case I was missing something. Voxhaul was semi-mellow indie rock and after a raucous set by SSG it just wasn't doing it for me. In fact, tons of people were getting up and leaving during their set. The Pharmacy were much better and had a few people out of their seats dancing but again, they just couldn't compare to So So Glos and Electric Tickle Machine.

The last band up was another Brooklyn DIY band, Japanther. I don't love Japanther's music but the shows are always pretty insane. After seeing what happened during the SSG set I was curious to see how it went. Not surprisingly as soon as the first song started everyone rushed the floor. This time security was surrounding the stage and ready to pounce. At first they kinda let people dance and do their thing but after a song or two they just started snatching people. I saw at least two people get drug out the side doors, kicking and screaming, by a bunch of goons.

Things just got more insane after this. After seeing friends drug out for dancing the band and crowd wasn't too pleased with how things were going. Japanther made a few comments about security being dicks, which got people hyped. For every kid they pulled off the floor another ran on and so it went until they decided to pull the plug on Japanther. Yes, really - they pulled the plug on their headlining band, mid-song. They finished up the song they were playing, sans amplification, and then an announcement was made that the show would not resume until the floor cleared.

Japanther hoisted up their banner they had behind them as a show of defiance but after 15 minutes the floor finally cleared. They turned the sound back on but as soon as Japanther started kids ran back out there again. It was pretty funny to be honest. I think Japanther got one more song in and immediately upon completion the sound was cut and an announcement made that the show was over.

I must say that it was quite a show indeed. Despite the interruptions and weirdness it was pretty awesome. It's a shame that shit went down during the Japanther set but even if that didn't happen it would still have been a killer event. It might not quite be on par with the first Rock N' Roll Circus (Rolling Stones, The Who, Jethro Tull & more) but it was lots of fun. I have to admit that the chaos was pretty damn entertaining though. At one point, between songs, Japanther summed up the night nicely and said something to the effect of "What did you expect? We're a punk band from Brooklyn".

Video of So So Glos & Security (Sorry about the sound)