Phenomenauts’, a possible contraction between phenomenon and astronauts, seem to be a good summary of the show the band of the same name puts on, although it would be quite difficult to catch in one world what this ambitious space-odyssey-punk spectacle wants to be.
The Phenomenauts, a San Francisco Bay Area band, were playing at the Troubadour just before the Frustrators on Sunday night, and these guys seemed to have embraced to the extreme the Freddie Mercury’s Everyone-has-to-have-a-gimmick catch phrase. Just before the show, they were installing tons of things, setting up matching microphone-stands, hanging a huge red flag saying ‘Science and Honor’ in the back of the stage, while wearing matching Star-Trek-inspired red and black outfits.
Their sort of Devo/OK Go-inspired performance of new-wave-surf-punk – they even made me think about the Stray Cats because of the upright bass – was enhanced with laser, fog and toilet-paper gun (don’t ask me how it works!) for the joy of everyone. One of them was wearing a fantasy helmet, two others light-flashing goggles and they were all unleashing a phenomenal energy of sound, light and colors. It’s the kind of thing you see in arenas and stadiums! Did these guys know they were playing the Troubadour?
The show seems to be an amalgam of too many things at times, and the songs a series of over the top space fiction references that I could not follow, but all this was making me think about a space-themed rock opera, may be like the one Weezer wanting to make.
With the uniforms, the flag and the group-vocal-army-style delivery, there is no doubt that these guys are on a mission,… I’m not sure exactly which one, but they are convincing.