CONCERT REVIEW - Powerman 5000MP3: Powerman 5000 - Free
It is always fun to see an arena rock show in the confines of a bar.
Powerman 5000 is one of those groups with a history of big things – but even if they hadn’t had their days of headlining large scale venues close to a decade ago, their music dictates that its performance must be larger-than-life.
Part sci-fi B-movie, part comic book, part nu-metal royal family (lead singer “Spider” is the younger brother of genre godfather Rob Zombie), Powerman 5000 are still making chug-a-lug horror pop with the same intense enthusiasm and showmanship as they were in the late ‘90’s. Anxiously promoting a new album set for stores sometime later this year, Spider and his re-formatted line-up (who were all wearing astronaut uniforms that made them resemble members of Lost’s Dharma Project) scurried onto Headliner’s small stage on Monday night after a P.A. intro that included oldies music and an automated voice saying profanity. They then proceeded to play for a crowd of 200 a show that would have translated just as immediately to a crowd of 10,000.
If the band was the least bit bothered by their current situation of playing smaller venues to fewer people, they didn’t show it. Instead, they allowed the evening to take on the characteristics of a basement show: fans stage dived and crowd surfed, many actually making it on stage to throw up devil horns or give Spider a high five. The band fully embraced the anarchy and even helped one unsure stage diver find the perfect climactic moment in one of their tunes at which to jump into the crowd.
The band surveyed their entire catalogue, even digging into 1995’s “The Blood Splat Rating System,” but made sure to play the songs that pay the bills. A few songs into the set, Spider teased the excited crowd over the opening riff of their 2003 single “Free”: “Oh, you think you know this one?” Overall, the banter was kept to a minimum, but after an hour, Spider took a moment to call the audience “friends” and – using his best arena rock posturing – worked the place into a frenzy as the band slammed into the 2001 anthem “Bombshell.”
For an encore, the four supporting members of the group took the stage wearing space helmet/gas masks as Spider led the crowd through “Supernova Goes Pop,” a distorted-up slamdance version of the Justin Timberlake hit “Sexyback,” and the band’s trademark 1999 hit “When Worlds Collide.”
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