Artists: The Aquabats!, The Epoxies, The Phenomenauts
Venue: The Metro
Location: Chicago, IL
Date:  7/7/05
Review By: Christopher Thomas!

As you begin reading this review, there are three things you need to bear in mind:

1. 1. Chicago is the coolest city in America.  There’s no sense in arguing, just accept the truth and move on.
2. 2. The Metro is Chicago’s coolest venue.  Don’t try to deny it, your objections are futile.
3. 3. The Aquabats! put on the most fun show in the world.  Every time.  Period.

Already being privy to this information, I was naturally pretty excited when I got a chance to see The Aquabats! live at the Metro in Chicago.  This was their Teenage Pajamas from Outer Space Tour!, and filling out the bill were similarly schticky and fun bands The Epoxies and the Phenomenauts.

First on the bill was The Phenomenauts, who play a fun blend of punk and rockabilly music slathered in a heavy gravy-like coating of science fiction.  Dressed in space suits, they sang about space missions, rockets, robots, and how Earth is the best planet in our solar system.  The Phenomenauts’ set was impressive and fun, and the energy didn’t subside once.  Yelling, howling, running around, shooting toilet paper into the crowd with a leaf blower – this band knows how to show the crowd a good time.

Next up was The Epoxies.  The Epoxies are a punk/new-wave band on Fat Wreck Chords who owe a lot of their current notoriety to a spot on the first installment of Fat’s Rock Against Bush compilation.  Fronted by a wiry, energetic, and ever-gyrating Roxy Epoxy, and armed with guitars and synthesizers, this band does a great job of mixing 80s new wave with punk rock for a fun and rocking show.  The band was tight and energetic, but the crowd wasn’t as excited to see them as one might expect.  This might be due in part to the fact that a lot of the band’s songs sound similar to one another, and few if any ever really stick out to the listener.  Like the Phenomenauts, though, the laser-guided and vinyl-clad Epoxies never let the energy dip, and the band sprinted through their set leaving barely enough time for breathing between songs.

At last the Aquabats! took the stage, clad as always in their trademark uniforms, and proceeded to put on the most fun show you might imagine.  Led by the MC Bat Commander and set against a video screen flashing hilarious montages of obscure 80s movies, the once-ska Aquabats! tore through a set of songs from their new album Charge!! as well as fan favorites like “Super Rad!” and “Lovers of Loving Love.”

If you don’t know much about the Aquabats!, it is important to know that they are superheroes modeled after a mix of your favorite 80s cartoon heroes and the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  As such, their show is interrupted periodically by costumed villains in need of disposal, but in true cartoon fashion the fight is invariably interrupted at its climax by commercials for products like The Aquabats! Pudding Dispenser Belt and the Aquabats! Therapeutic Rub-0-Rama Cream. 

The Aquabats! shows – like their albums – are all about having fun and making the kids in the crowd as much a part of the band as they are spectators.  Gestures like The Circle of Love, hilarious between-song banter, and reviving a mostly-dead Bat Commander with a Journey cover song sing-along do the trick perfectly, and everyone in the house is left smiling – and tired from all the dancing. 

 Set List
Fashion Zombies!
Plastic Lips!
Nerd Alert!
Super Rad!
Look at Me (I’m a Winner)!
Martian Girl!
Lovers of Loving Love!
Tiger Rider vs the Time Sprinkler!
Chemical Bomb!
Don’t Stop Believing (Journey cover)
Pizza Day!
Demolition Rickshaw!
Waterslides!
-----Encore-----
Pool Party!
Awesome Forces!