Monotonix - Glasgow Stereo - 20 Aug 2009

So, my mate Andy said to me the other day, "you've got to come and see Monotonix on Thursday night - it'll be the most mental gig you've ever seen". That's quite a fuckin claim (recent memories of the old Revolting Cocks gig springing to mind amongst various others). When I asked what they were all about, he told me they were an insane Israeli three-piece punk/garage-rock band who ended up playing in the upstairs bar the last time he saw them (they began their set in the downstairs bar). Kinda went walkabout during the gig. Huh?

So - arrived at Stereo in time to see the magnificent Gummy Stumps (imagine a noisier, Glasgow version of The Fall). They played their gig on the stage - how traditional! Once they'd fucked off, a cymbal and drum stool got placed on the floor in front of the stage. The drummer then crawled his way across the top of the crowd before sitting and starting to play air drums (only a cymbal at this point remember). A guitarist then appeared and started to play this drawn out warped riff that went on for ages, before the singer appeared with other bits of the drum kit before they launched into this mad garage rock track. After each 'song' they relocated, at various points they were on the ridge at the side wall of the venue, on top of the bar, basically all over the place. At one point the singer motioned me forward to take a hold of a leg of a drum stool, so me and about four other guys held it up while he climbed up and started hitting a tomtom that other folk were holding in front of him. Totally fuckin nuts. All the while they were nicking drinks off the crowd and throwing them over themselves and each other.

Did I mention that they all looked like Frank Zappa, and were wearing only pants and trainers? The singer kept mooning at us, at one point right in front of me, so I chucked the remainder of my pint down the crack of his arse. He looked round and smiled at me approvingly. WTF!?!?

This show took audience participation to a whole new level, with everyone sitting down and 'standing up going mental' upon the singer's command at one point, as well as all the impromptu shifting of equipment. Fuck knows how long their leads were. Apparently this was a rare 'full set' as they often end up out in the street - not exactly flavour of the month with local bouncers/cops etc. No such problems at Stereo though, no-one gave a fuck!

I managed to blag a free MiniDisc recorder that was going to get chucked out at my work the other day, so attempted this as my first bootleg in about 20 years. Sounds pretty fuckin good, especially considering what the fuck was going on throughout the various parts of the venue. At some points I'm right in front of a cymbal, or a bass drum, or the singer, so the sound reflects this. You might hear me moaning about the drum stool hurting my hand at one point as well. BUT - if you were there, or have seen them, it should provide a nice wee souvenir of what was indeed the most mental gig of my life.

You can watch this Flickr slideshow to bring back the memories while listening to it (you can see my face holding the cunt up in the air at one point)...



Monotonix - Glasgow Stereo - 20 Aug 2009
Tracklisting? No fuckin idea...

Check their tour dates here