Rock ‘n roll, comedy and go-go dancing, along with an epic electro dance party all in one night, all in one place, all for free makes for one badass party, filled with ridiculous happenings, or more formally titled, “An Evening of Rediculosity.”
The Blue Note will be hosting “An Evening of Rediculosity” at 8:30 p.m. Saturday.
The event’s concept stems from the classic vaudeville variety show and features diverse local acts that are hoping to appeal to an audience just as diverse.
Featured performers include Nonreturner, [p33]r0y, The Circus Show?, Hella Go-Go and Kobain in the Membrain.
When deciding who would be performing, Peter McDevitt of The Blue Note, explained that organizers had to think outside of the box on the entertainment they could offer to the Columbia community, versus the usual three band rock show The Blue Note usually hosts.
“In order to bring people out and get people into it,” Nonreturner member Zach Biri said. “One of the best things you can do is give them something interesting to see, a spectacle.”
Many of the performers expressed thoughts of excitement and enthusiasm on the “rediciouslity” that will take place during the show.
“I like the concept of the variety show and being able to share the stage with so many different types of performers,” DJ Leroy Lee, AKA [p33]r0y, said. “I’m particularly excited to share the bill with my friends in Hella Go-Go, who I’ve worked with many times before, as well as Nonreturner, a band that I have a lot of respect for.”
The night will offer attendees a “surprise that’s not so surprising,” Nirvana cover band, Kobain in the Membrain, according to the event flier. The audience will be thrown back into time and be able to rock out to “Heart Shaped Box” and “Smells like Teen Spirit.”
Taking a breather from Cobain, The Circus Show? will provide comedic relief for the audience. The two-month-old comedy troupe is still working on an official name, but for now is known as The Circus Show?, featuring Diggy Splash, Matt Wayman, Jon Venegoni, Caplee Spiller and host Jay Groharing, all from Eastside Tavern’s “The As Yet Unnamed Comedy Show.”
The audience should expect an older style of entertainment: comedy that’s sexual, violent and hilarious, during The Circus Show?’s first official debut.
“Sometimes people don’t necessarily understand the style that we do, but they learn to love it,” Venegoni said. “People have come up to us and said, ‘I was really offended by a few things and you guys get ridiculous sometimes, but I really enjoyed the energy of the show and how funny it was.’ They come around.”
An older act that has gained popularity in the Columbia area since its start in 2005 is Nonreturner. The band uses computers on stage to create electronic beats, accompanied by soft vocals achieving an unique electro psychedelic sound with pop undertones. This sound is often compared to bands such as Radiohead and Sonic Youth.
“We’re very grounded, not in a pop aesthetic, but in more towards a pop-song writing style,” Biri said. “Because it seems to me, it’s easy to make aleatoric, random noise, but it’s a lot harder to craft a song that is not obvious, vapid and bubble-gummy. It might be experimental, but also in a way that’s very catchy. That’s always been our ethos when working on music.”
The band will be playing an uncharacteristically long set during the night and may even dress up as plague doctors, just for pure ridiculousness.
Members from the band also expressed their excitement to debut material that they never thought they would be able to perform live, because of time and geographic constraints.
“Now that we’re all in the same place again and we can practice a lot, we have finally learned a lot of songs that we haven’t been able to play in years or we didn’t think we would be able to,” Biri said. “It’s really nice to be on stage with your closest friends whenever something really feels right. You just look around, no one has to say it, but everyone is just like ‘hell yes, this is perfect.’”
Nonreturner will also be sharing part of their set with Hella Go-Go, a four-piece dance troupe that emulates their routines after ’60s go-go dancers. Members include Renee Maxwell (Cherry Bopper), Kristin Smart (Kristol Pistol), Carissa Boesch (Sparkarella) and Meredith Morrow (Pinkee Galore).
Maxwell explained that dancing with Nonreturner should be interesting, because their genre of music is not what the group is used to dancing to.
“It’s not something that we’ve ever done before or really thought that we would do, but we think it’s going to actually turn out really cool,” Biri said.
Although “An Evening of Rediculosity” might bring in a different audience than Hella Go-Go usually gets, Maxwell assures the group’s performance is going to be high-energy and get the audience to move and shake what they got.
The ladies will also have their own solo set, performing their original choreography.
“We dance hard and fast and we do it for a long time,” Maxwell said. “We like to raise the energy level of the whole room and really get other people out on the dance floor. Everyone should dance, it’s good for you.”
Concluding the evening, the go-go dancers will also be livening things up in the crowd during [p33]r0y’s “redicioulous” dance party.
A self-proclaimed obsessive music fanatic, [p33]r0y started DJing in 2006 and has since co-founded Dirty Disco. [p33]r0y has become known for his unique sound and spinning indie-dance, electro and disco styles of dance music that are uncommon in the Midwest.
“I love seeing people flipping out, jumping up and down, sing along and having the time of their lives during my sets,” [p33]r0y said. “The best part is that I’m right there with them, dancing to the music and having a great time.”
Basically the evening will provide a ridiculous amount of free entertainment and appeal for anyone in attendance.
“There’s going to be a little bit of everything, as far as live entertainment: comedians, live bands, go-go dancers and dance music,” Lee said. “Surely, people of all walks of life will find at least one or two things from the show that they’ll enjoy.”
