After months of anticipation, Michigan Metal Fest finally arrived last Saturday to the delight of mid-Michigan metal heads and brought with it a full day of local, regional, and national acts on three stages at Battle Creek’s Leila Arboretum in spite of unseasonably cool and rainy weather. 21st century favorites like Atilla and Oceano headlined the event, but grumpy Gen Xers were especially shocked to see the legendary Green Jelly also near the top of the bill, and their unique brand of comedy metal thrilled and engaged the wet, muddy crowd as the festival neared its conclusion.
Formed in 1981 by vocalist and demented mastermind, Bill Manspeaker, Green Jelly built a following for over a decade before finding unlikely success with their hard rock parody of the children’s story, “ThreeLittle Pigs” and its hilarious and era-specific Claymation music video before running into legal issues which resulted in adjusting the band’s name (originally written and still pronounced, “Green Jello”) and encountering problems with record company support and distribution for their follow up albums. Some of the band's members went on to greatness elsewhere (Danny Carey and Maynard Keenan of Tool were once members) while others dropped off and into other bands. After a 13-year hiatus, Manspeaker revived the project, releasing previously recorded material and performing live again but now employing regional musicians who vary by location rather than a traditional backing band. Having released their fifth and most recent album last summer, Green Jelly are currently performing at clubs and small festivals which recently included the Insane Clown Posse’s Gathering of the Juggalos and Battle Creek’s Michigan Metal Fest.
The set times at the festival were only 20-30 minutes long for all artists, so when Green Jelly was still tuning up and getting ready 16 minutes into their allotted time slot, it was understandable that Manspeaker playfully warned the crowd the “shitshow” was about to begin. As the stage filled up with more and more musicians, there were eventually at least 12 people on stage, 6 of whom were playing bass, and once the show was officially underway, a parade of about 20 additional audience volunteers (wearing band-provided, “punk rock puppet heads”) quickly turned the performance into a melee that then spilled into the crowd for the remainder of the set. Imagine P-Funk colliding with GWAR, and you have an inkling of the scene. All told, the band squeezed five songs into 30 minutes (but needed to go over their time by at least 15 minutes to do so) and split two of the songs into multiple sections that came and went throughout the show. The performance itself was an amplified spectacle of silliness and rock and roll passion that was arguably overwhelming if not overstimulating and was probably best received by those with short attention spans aside from the fans who were already familiar with the band and their music.
Opening (and closing) with the self-deprecating “Green Jelly Theme Song,” one of the group’s earliest songs, the focus and highlight was their spirited delivery of “Three Little Pigs,” arriving almost as soon as the show began. Manspeaker then joked they were contractually obligated to perform at least two songs, so they quickly jumped into “Anarchy in the U.K. (Bedrock),” an updated arrangement and parody of the Sex Pistols classic with lyrics instead focusing on The Flintstones, followed by “Carnage Rules,” written for the Super Nintendo Spider-Man game, Maximum Carnage, nearly 30 years ago but revived due to the recent release of the second Venom movie which features Woody Harrelson as the infamous Marvel villain.
Festival staff communicated the band were down to “20 seconds” after which they performed another full-length song and call-backs to two others they had already performed before bringing the show to a close. Between the musicians, singers, dancing audience members, the fire breather, and the stone grinder that were all part of the performance, it was hard to focus on any one person or element for very long, and the sloppy but enthusiastic set flew by very quickly once it got started, leaving some yelling for more, some running to the band’s merch tent, and others breathing a sigh of relief as they shuffled toward the stage with anticipation for the last two bands, both of whom were far more traditional and less intentionally ridiculous. For audience members who have known about or even followed Green Jelly 30 or more years ago, the seemingly random opportunity to actually see them live was a thrill in itself, but even with franchised musicians and a 30-minute performance slot, Green Jelly delivered a spirited and engaging show that left as many laughing as they got headbanging.
Green Jelly set list:
Green Jelly Theme Song (pt. 1)
Three Little Pigs (pt. 1)
Green Jelly Theme Song (pt. 2)
Anarchy in the U.K.-Bedrock (Sex Pistols/Green Jelly)
Carnage Rules
Electric Harley House/Enter Sandman (Metallica) (tease)
Three Little Pigs (pt. 2)
Green Jelly Theme Song (pt. 3)
*Follow Jamblog by subscribing on the home page, by liking our facebook page, or both! :)
*For even more, don't forget to also like and follow our music video and live performance page for great music from all of rock history in your timeline every day!!* https://www.facebook.com/rocknrollhst/
No comments:
Post a Comment