by kellie abrahamson kabrahamson1@aol.com
On Sunday night, robots hell-bent on overthrowing the human race descended on the River City. Luckily their quest for domination was quelled by their need to rock. Captured! By Robots, a one-man, six-robot band took over the Jack Rabbits stage to share their views on, of all things, politics.
Band lore states that after years of dealing with difficult, unreliable human band mates, Jay Vance of Skankin’ Pickle and the Blue Meanies decided to create a band of robots to play with. Instead of following him, they revolted and now force him to travel the universe with them; performing music and making him contemplate the inferiority of the human race. The band members/captors are DRMBOT0110 and AUTOMATOM on drums, GTRBOT666 on bass and guitar, the Headless Hornsmen on brass and The Ape Which Hath No Name and Son of the Ape Which Hath No Name on tambourine and clash cymbals respectively. Jay, now known as JBOT, sings and at times plays guitar all while clad in chains and being mercilessly humiliated by his own creations.
Each C!BR tour has a different theme. A couple years back it was the Ten Commandments tour, where JBOT dressed as Moses. Last year they toured as the ultimate all-robot wedding band (and performed actual ceremonies- JBOT’s an ordained minister) during the “Captured! By Robots Gets Married” tour. This fall, the Captured! By Robots crew take on politics in “Dubya,” a musical homage to George W. Bush’s 7 years in office.
Musically speaking C!BR is ok. At the risk of being enslaved myself and despite what the bots may claim on their website, capturedbyrobots.com, they are not the best musicians in the universe (although I admit my inferior aural senses may not be advanced enough to pick up on their supreme awesomeness). Obviously it’s difficult for a machine to achieve the subtle nuances of a living, breathing musician. Still, DRMBOT0110 can work a double bass pedal better than half of the drummers I’ve come across and I defy any guitarist to play both bass and rhythm guitar at the same time for an hour straight.
Truth be told, most people came out to see C!BR more to satisfy their curiosity than to find a new band to add to their iPod playlist. That seems to be fine with JBOT, whose flair for the theatrical brings lookie loos out in droves. There were no opening acts at this particular show. The robots, clad in costumes and masks to look like members of the Bush administration and other political figures, were already on stage when the audience filed through the door, standing in front of an American flag tacked on the wall. Patriotic music was piped through the sound system in anticipation for the main event including James Brown’s ‘Living in America’ and ‘America, F**k Yeah!’ the unforgettable anthem from Team America: World Police. After JBOT’s brief reminder to the audience that he is, in fact, not George W. Bush (apparently past cities were confused by his act and took their frustration with the administration out on the performer), he donned a rubber mask and launched into the show.
The songs performed throughout the evening were mostly metal, although a few had elements of ska and reggae. The set list covered much of the high-points of Bush’s presidency in chronological order, from ‘Hanging Chads,’ an ode to Florida’s 2000 election troubles, to ‘I Got His Gun, Daddy,’ Bush’s post-Saddam capture celebratory ditty. No show would be complete without a cover or two. C!BR put their own personal spin on three songs: The Who’s ‘Wont Get Fooled Again,’ perennial Christmas classic ‘Do You Hear What I Hear?’ (about government wiretapping), and, naturally, Springsteen’s ‘Born in the USA.’ Between songs, JBOT (as Bush) would banter with the crowd and the robots would chatter in character to one another. Highlights were GTRBOT666’s trigger-happy Cheney and the adorable Ape father-son pair, who did their best impressions of Wolf Blitzer and Nancy Pelosi. Both sides of the aisle were sent up during the act, the result being a hilarious, mostly non-partisan assault on what’s wrong with American politics. At the end of the show, JBOT urged the crowd to register to vote and work for the changes they personally would like to see.
Dressed in a suit and tie and wearing a rubber George W. Bush mask has got to be the most uncomfortable way possible to put on a metal show. By the end of the hour-long set, poor JBOT was winded and completely drenched with sweat. Even if you don’t care for the music or the politics, you’ve got to respect the man’s dedication to his craft. When you consider he tortures himself like this every night for two months straight, you have to wonder if this guy isn’t truly held hostage by the maniacal machines he shares the stage with.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
