By any normal standards, the gig wednesday night at the Roxy was a triumph. The return show from IMA ROBOT's first US tour to their hometown, introduced by Rodney Bingenheimer! (who is an over quarter century rock and roll story unto himself), a ravenously enthusiastic crowd and the band members themselves were in ferociously fine form. They could of played anything they wanted and there would have been young-- some of them more vicious than others-- ladies jostling with each other for a position up front to get at them/him. But normal doesn't really apply on a night like this.

You know, I find it's odd...curious if you will when you see someone in a band, any band, playing an instrument, who's the spitting image of another famous person that came before on the same instrument, but when there's 'a happening' (like they used to call them) that's very similar in character to that lookalike, you just have to scratch your head and go whoa! I'm actually referring here to the drummer from the second band, "The Rolling Blackouts", a very 70's rock and roll band whose drummer Gabriel beared an uncanny look and playing feel to that of the late Keith Moon of the Who, one of the all time great drummers of the rock idiom. Not to mention that the singer/guitarist beared even stranger resemblance to that of a young Alice Cooper, but that's an even weirder twist I can't even go into. My relevance will be revealed in a second so hang on.

Keep in mind that the Roxy is a very historic club dating back to '73 and all the greats made some sort of history there. There were all kinds of great inspirational and blissful moments to the robots' set on this night...a very 'in the moment' Alex Ebert, by shows end barely had any clothes on...pants ripped up both legs from doing all sorts of things , running all over the stage with the mic and had noticeable makeup-pencil red 'fake slash marks' on his ribcage like a done up version of what Iggy was notorious for. Granted no one was truly 'hurt',but there were moments of the above mentioned 'vicious, hysterical women, up front --mock trying to break, albeit plastic cocktail glasses (the roxy doesn't serve bottles either) to
maim others for reasons...what else? heightened rock and roll hysteria. I'm lucky to still have my teeth.

The response to these moments in the set were surely visable and during 'black jettas', the vocal delivery came on violent and ferocious especially for the "ex-girlfriends" lines. JMJ actually grabbed someones upheld key, not necessarily joking and chimed, "we need to take these away from you", ...drunk or drama?...maybe both. Ahh the youth of today.

After about a zillion frantic 16ths beats during the bands steamroll through most of the LP songs, the tension eased a bit with the slow tempo
'sexy' , with guitar nuances of something else in their repertoire that I can't put my finger on, followed by a very sentimental if not tense 'scream'. As with their sets of recent, by the time '12=3' is intro'd, you are pretty much given a 2 minute warning to kiss 'em goodbye, the end is near...or is it?

It's hard to truly give light to the buildup and what with this mention of 'a happening' I'm talking about', but going back in history again, Keith Moon one evening quite a few years ago, after playing most of a show in San Francisco at the Cow Palace, apparently collapsed off his drum set after having a little too much of "it" and was dragged off stage. The band then began frantically trying to figure out what to do. The show must go on and Keith...well, after a second attempt was just out cold. They asked an audience member (who they did not actually know beforehand) if they could play the drums...they picked someone at random and he got up onstage and finished the set. I mean how rediculous is that? After wards the drummer was given something to eat and a tour jacket, which was later stolen...but those details overshoot the relevance by 69 deli trays.

Back in the present, at the end of 'here come the bombs', amidst all the chaos the boys spew at the end like some sonic shit storm, all I can remember is seeing Joey leaning forward over his drumset and "vomiting"...then falling over and laying down. Talk about a buzzkill cocktail laced with anxiety tabs. Mix in the crazy bitches up front, my antihistamines and a few fosters and you're wondering WTF is going on!?! This definately looked weird and in a moment Timmy signaled to the band to cut it and that Joey was off his kit. This did not look like the end of a hot night at the Roxy that I was ready for.
In a panic the sound guy went down by Joey for a few minutes...then...started crazily switching the drumset from Joey's left handed position to a right handed players...like, was HE going to finish the set? He was their competent tech and roadie, who's to say?

In this weird mellee, Justin seemed to turn a little whiter than he already is...and not that there weren't bras and whatever else already thrown onstage, all I could see next was Ebert trying to cut the drama with a white panty liner...like from out of nowhere...and then puts it in his mouth.
"MM, not bad, it tastes ok...", or something like that. WTF! Justin looks freaked, shakes his head then they make a motion to head offstage, but not before the idea to call out..."is there a drummer in the house?"

So up comes now Id'd random audience member Scott. The guy, not really dressed for an IMA Robot photo shoot, but whatever, shakes hands with Timmy..."you can play drums?...oooo-k"...(Ebert) "here you talk to the musicians"...and then a moment with Justin, before mounting the kit. After a moment of hesitancy came the surprise slow digital beat of 'what are we made from'.
It actually took a few moments to realise what they were playing after all that's been mentioned, still wondering just what was going on...where in the world is Joey Waronker?

And in a moment I got lost in the dim lights and the spaced out melody. "And we'll do our best to play our parts/yet it's oh so tragic...and some heavenly puke as the glue".
Just a brilliant song that reminds me of why I'm so into them. I close my eyes for a moment trying to conjure up a Nyquilized inner-eyelid secret movie and settle into the idea of this being the last song, wondering if this was just a live experiment...or just totally planned brilliance. After the fade out the band exits with bewildered shrugs and Justin delivering the line, "thanks Joey, it's been real."
Ok this sounds bad, I'm confused, but still reeling over the Keith Moon thing which now might make some sense in a rather strange association...and the maxi, just trying to put it together, when they come back out. They motion to Scott who once again is back behind the kit, still no sign of Joey, and is qued to start what turned into a very heavy beat' going into 'sex symbols on parade'.

The guy then carves out the groove and I'm going, this guy really can play! Still not figuring that anything is up, what with him missing the change and starting a momentary vamp that kinda rocked in a fashion we haven't heard from the band. When they got back on track, some measures later, they finished what turned out to be a quite impressive display from someone who "just hopped onstage", only to be greeted as they stepped of again...by a smiling Joey standing in the wings as the band exited the stage for the last time of the night.

Aftershow. Many audience members surely would seem uncertain as to what really just happened, whether the drummer did fall ill and is backstage bleeding to death. Is someone back there with a stethoscope seeing if he still has any beats left? Is Alice Cooper back there administering CPR?

Of course this is not the case (?) and after a short while the guys are out in the club signing autographs and dispelling any odd concerns to those truly curious. Oh sweet Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo and it's freedom of dramatic charms and displays. That's entertainment folks as these guys have a mind to design, which is why even without their beloved skin master, for the future it's assured they have a number of tricks up their sleeves still to unveil when you least expect it. And so it is true, Joey has decided to spend more time in his home town with the wife, the home itself (the 2 M's as he liked to call it) and projects that will keep him close at hand. He's not nearly done with with music and should be a stamp of approval in the future on the things he's already been appointed to work on session and producing wise.
Joey Waronker you have served them well.

There is more to this nights events that will be revealed as I caught up with the band and those encounters will be continued shortly in another link.

A most enjoyable read, Nurzetrev. You captured the air of uncertainty well for those of us who weren't there. Remember, Justin is starting to rack up some acting credits so his ability to play the role of the befuddled bassist may not be surprising!

And I think Car alluded to the Keith Moon reference as well...they must have had that in mind...

put the aerosole down, thats enough for one night.

nah, cheers for the story. v.enjoyable

'JUST BECAUSE WE G-G-GET AROUND!'