Music Style Prop Rock

Press Reviews Thursday, August 07, 2003 Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury Music: Sex, bugs and rock 'n' roll Insecto Circus unleashes the swarm By Newt Briggs At most live music shows (no matter how "intimate" the venue), a sense of separation prevails--a sort of I-and-thou consciousness that divides the spectator from the spectacle. More often than not, this chasm is created by the stage--a tangible edifice that quite literally elevates the performers above the shrieking mob--but it can just as easily exist without any physical barrier, simply an invisible line that both sides know not to cross. Thus, despite an appearance of togetherness, the average concert does not serve the end of solidarity. Rather, it reinforces the hierarchy of everyday life: a small group at the top looking down, the mass of humanity at the bottom looking up. Not so with L.A.'s Insecto Circus. Conceived and cultivated amid Burning Man's artistic underground, Insecto thrives on crowd participation, blending music, drama, freaks and flaming projectiles into a dysfunctional cavalcade of sensual delights. A mix of sights and sounds, mayhem and musicianship, an Insecto Circus show commands all the senses, making crowds laugh, dance or flee in terror. Says drummer Brian Beaver: "Most music goes one of two directions: Either you get song-oriented rock 'n' roll or antic-driven performance art. In other words, you get one or the other--not both. With Insecto, though, you get it all: the sound, the spectacle--everything wrapped into a single, outrageous show." And what a show it is. Fire-spinners, sword-swallowers, scantily clad dancing girls and a performer best described as "The Clothespin Man" (he covers his body in the practical, pinching clasps): Insecto Circus is GWAR without the monster fetish, Green Jello after a few years of music lessons, Cradle of Filth minus the goth gloom. Add to that an ongoing interaction with the crowd, and you've got the makings of a bona fide public spectacle. It's not for everyone. "To be honest," says Beaver, "we don't put a whole lot of thought into the stage show. We just kind of put it out there and hope for the best. Most of the time, it works; sometimes, it doesn't. In fact, a couple of times we've cleared out places. I mean, you could actually see people bolting for the exits." According to Beaver, the success of each gig hinges on the crowd's willingness to get involved in the madness. The song "Death Stick," for example, can make or break a show. Against a brash, charging backdrop of jagged guitars, the performers unveil an arsenal of huge foam hammers and begin thumping each other in a melee of mock violence. But just as the chorus hits--"Grab it! Throw it! Smash it!"--the band turns on the audience, delivering blows on anyone within swiping distance. Unlike most stage shows, though, the crowd is invited to fight back, to seize a hammer and join the fray. Ideally, it erupts into a Dada-esque free for all, performers and spectators united in an orgy of comic cruelty. And then there's "Corn"--at present, Insecto's favored finale. Opening with a lone, steady drumbeat and a monologue about Indians, the Rain God and the many virtues of the hearty crop, "Corn" explodes into a thundering noise-metal assault, prompting the performers to unleash a barrage of popcorn on the audience. Soon, the air is engulfed in white--popped kernels flying back and forth between crowd and musicians. "Ultimately, we want people to get involved," Beaver says. "Of course, if someone's not in the mood for getting pelted with popcorn or beaten over the head with a hammer, we're not going to corner him in the back of the bar and pummel him. The point of it all is to defy expectation and get people out of their everyday routines. We want them to dress up. We want them to feel like they were part of the show, like they actually did something besides pay a few bucks to make it all happen. If we can do that, we're all pretty happy."

Location Los Angeles, CA - USA

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