AntiProduct - Bristol Bierkeller, 11th October 2000
Freeze frame a slip in time at an AntiProduct gig and more times than most you
will have captured a near perfect rock n' roll moment. One second, manic
frontman Alex Kane will do his damndest to split his own skull with his
microphone, the next he'll try his hardest to make sure you cop an eyeful of his
frequently flashed trouser snake. At one point there are nigh on fifty people
crowded onto the Bierkeller stage for a rendition of "Bungee Jumping People
Die". Nothing is minimised, all is taken to an extreme. Audience
participation ain't the lazy act of clapping along to the drums and yapping
along to the words, it's whether you can fight your way to a microphone or not -
ability to scream in tune always a plus, natch.
The uppity industrial riffery and snarling delivery of
"Psychedelic Girlfriend" sits perfectly at ease with the frolicsome
refrain of "Hey Let's Get It On" and all seems well with the world.
That is, until blood is shed and Alex transforms that aforementioned mic into a
mangled wreck (so beyond repair he will have to pay the venue for it) and then
spraypaints his own face. It's here that it gets even better albeit in a sick
and twisted style. Appallingly entertaining, you like it as much as you loathe
it. Psychotic or just plain loopy the full spectacle is a wonderfully sound and
coherent concept gone absolutely bonkers.
In a scene where so many bands illicit about as much pleasure as
having your car towed away or realising you didn't get paid today, the whole
AntiProduct experience is a rifferama rock banana for the heaving masses that so
deserve them. Time for everybody to get AntiProductive.
J-P Storrow
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