Powerman 5000
Powerman 5000
July 20, 1999 @ Tower Records, Boston
In preparation for the release of their latest Dreamworks work, Tonight
The Stars Revolt, local ragers Powerman 5000 brought their campy fury to
Tower Records for a fan-only concert and signing session. Though the 9:30
“closing” miffed many would-be video renters and late-night music
shoppers, the proud few who had garnered the colorful passes to the
in-store gig made the most of the staff’s long preparation time to revv-up
for the madness to come. Being Rob’s little brother makes PM5K front man
“Spider 1” Zombie part of local music royalty. And As Spider got his space
suit and goggles on, big brother Rob’s inverted star on Tower’s “Walk of
Fame” was not exactly shining, but it seemed to shed a bit of its tarnish.
As the assembled press waited among the racks, a testosteroned pack of
pierced and tattooed (and even gas masked) fans poured up the down
escalator to take their places along the well-used riot rail. Backstage,
the other members of the band – Dorian 27, Adam 12, M 33 and Al 3 --
stretched out and chatted with their “VIP” fans (a few of whom they had
previously worked at Tower with before hitting it big).
After a brief and to the point intro by Universal man Joe Kara, the
strains of Revolt’s familiarly foreboding narrator overtook the PA system,
announcing the band’s imminent arrival. Bursting onto the makeshift stage,
Spider immediately erupted into a wild dance of dramatic gesticulation and
frenetic aerobicizing which included its fair share of Rap star forearm
flips. Though the acoustics were not prime from the clearance album
section, the crowd was fully into it, posing and jumping right along with
Spider and his numbered backers. Combining tremoring bass with massive
guitars and pounding percussion which could barely keep up at times, the
band also combined new songs such as “Automatic,” “When Worlds Collide,”
“Nobody’s Real”, “Supernova Goes Pop” and the pleasantly oppressive “They
Know Who You Are” with old-school faves like the tech mosh “Car Crash”
from Super Kung-Fu Radio.
After it was all over, the fans dutifully filed outside to line up again
in anticipation of meeting their heroes. Despite the repeated waiting
periods, the in-store appears to have done what it set out to do -- rile
fans into an almost frightening frenzy while keeping-up the Zombie family
tradition.
- Matthew S. Robinson
© 1999 M. S. Robinson, ARR
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