Steroid Maximus At Celebrate Brooklyn!

The performance began with one of my favorites, “L’espion qui a Pleure” (which roughly translates as The Spy Who Cries), a fabulous way to start off this bombastic show! It has just the right amount of curious minimalism at the start to lure you in initially, and then it knocks you out with its sucker-punch bravado! You’ll see what I mean in this live clip. (On a minor note, I can see myself in this video right at the beginning; I stand up and walk off to the right since it was time to shoot some shots!)

I’ll be honest . . . I can’t remember the set-list after the opening song, as I was just too into the show itself to be a purist and write it down! Plus, I had my hands full with my camera, and I’m not so much of a nerd that I’d take notes at this show!

I felt that one of the best songs of the night was “Bad Day in Greenpoint.” The added percussion gave it so much more sonic depth! The rolling timpani drums were truly an asset to an already fantastic piece, and if I’m not mistaken, the vocal parts of that song were substituted with a flute. “Seventy Cops” successfully utilized the trumpet for the light vocal touches originally on the album. Performed live, these were absolutely exquisite and I wish I had a recording of it! “Tarmac A Gris-Gris” was another stand out. I liked how the big band lent their vocal shouts where needed, and you could tell the band were really into it, and had fun with it. “Chaiste” was another that was so astounding to hear performed live. It sounds great on the Ectopia album, but . . . it truly comes full circle with a band as skilled as the ensemble that were brought onboard for this special night.

The Venture Bros. selections that I can remember were left towards the end of the show, and definitely consisted of the show’s theme song . . . and as soon as I heard the pizzicato plucking, I knew “Bolly” was an additional triumphant surprise (I thought my friend was going to piss herself . . . she had been saying several times, “Oh my god . . . I hope he does ‘BOLLY’!” so when he did . . . she was practically floating! Hehehehe!)

Some of the musicians I had recognized from previous Manorexia shows (Leyna Marika Papach, Elena Moon Park, and Karen Waltch, were part of the string section). Steven Bernstein was a pretty obvious entity onstage and has worked with JG in the past, particularly in the other few and far between live ensembles of Steroid Maximus. I definitely recognized Knox Chandler on guitar, as well as Christian Gibbs on keys. Another face I recognized was Curtis Hasselbring (whom I had photographed several times before performing with the incredible Klezmer band known simply as Golem).

I didn’t recognize the others, but since they were so fucking fabulous, I will list them to give credit where credit is due: Ravi Best, John Chudoba, Darryl Shaw, Art Baron, Marcus Rojas, Marty Ehrlich, Olivia Deprato, Isabel Castelvi, Bill Ruyle, Renaldo de Jesus, Fima Ephron, Ben Perowsky, and Ted Reichman.

I will say that this was probably the best show I’d seen in several years, and I highly doubt anything could possibly outshine it in my taste palette for years to come! I think the only thing that could possibly top it would be if JG arranged an extravaganza like he did in Austria at the Donaufestival a few years back when he combined Steroid Maximus with a Foetus live show . . . but as JG has made it quite clear in the media, this is no easy feat and quite pricey to pull-off.

So on that note, I will have to thank Celebrate Brooklyn! for recognizing JG Thirlwell’s talents and making it possible for a show like this to go off without a hitch on this side of the pond!

Click on the thumbnails below to see each image.

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