Re-Viewed: Model Rocket Scientist & Lord of the Yum Yum
By Julene McCoy in Arts & Entertainment on Mar 28, 2006 5:02PM
Sunday night Chicagoist decided that there was no reason to get a full night's sleep, despite what Dr. Sanjay Gupta says, and we went to the Darkroom to see some artists who are using digital technology to enhance their performances or to even make their musical stylings possible.
The first performance was by Model Rocket Scientist which is comprised of three characters: Stennis, Junior and Don ToEarth. Stennis was up first; dressed in a lab coat and huge glasses, he danced around the stage while utilizing the synthesizer keyboard, sequencers and drums all while singing. Stennis performed around six songs including "Go" and "No Bugs In My Face". Then Junior graced the stage in a stoner wig and oversized coat ala Silent Bob, but with a bad attitude and loud mouth. His sound was more in the Black Sabbath harder-rock vein. Last, but not least, Don ToEarth played songs that dealt more with the emotional side of life whether it was a trip to Amsterdam or being in a relationship where you catch someone lying to you. The characters allowed for Model Rocket Scientist to move from one sound and emotion to the next without seeming disjointed. MRS played several older songs, but took us into a new and enjoyable direction with their latest ditties.
The next performance that grabbed our attention was that of Lord of the Yum Yum. The Lord uses his voice and digital looping to create quite the unique experience. He beat-boxes and flails about the stage deep-throating the mic and creating a cacophony that swirls around making it impossible to know what is live and what is Memorex. Our favorite points of the performance were his time out to give a critique of the night's previous performers and his rendition of "Sweet Dreams" that went a little bit further in detailing what kind of abuse people might want to do to you than Annie Lennox or Marilyn Manson have ever gone. Lord of the Yum Yum was an interactive performer and there to thoroughly entertain the audience in his shiny shoes and retro tux.
Chicagoist doesn't pretend to even understand how each of these guys records all the sequences necessary for putting on one-man performances like these, nor how many hours something like that takes, we just know that we liked it and that it expanded our ideas regarding the creation of music and how it can be presented to an audience.