The first time I saw MUTEMATH perform [at a festival in St. Petersburg Florida] it was 110 degrees with 100% humidity. I vividly recall, and will probably never forget, drummer Darren King, finishing the final downbeat of a mesmerizing set, rushing side stage, and puking like day one of high school football hell week. Without a doubt, MUTEMATH goes big, a reputation that has earned them a Grammy nomination and an Alternative Press review as “the #1 band you need to see live before you die.”
This year’s MUTEMATH Bamboozle performance was true to form for the band. The set and songs featured smashing rhythms and droning synths, pulled together by singer Paul Meany’s soothing vocal melodies. Meany brought out a new toy for the show, a key-tar-esque contraption resembling a lazer gun from Retern of the Jedi and emitting electro-theremin sounds like those from Brian Wilson’s “Good Vibration,” but on crack. The band’s set climaxed with all 5 members pounding drums, cymbals, B3′s [or a whatever they could find] in an orgasmic tribal frenzy that drove the audience wild. The crowd cheered as the members exited the stage to the sound of feedback from the ambulance siren synths. Check out the photo gallery to see Meany’s Magic Key-tar.
