Man or Astro-man?
with Atomic 7 and Cuff The Duke
Saturday Oct. 27, 2001 @ The Horseshoe, Toronto

Many of us were beginning to wonder if Man or Astro-man? would ever come to Toronto in support of their most recent release, “A Spectrum of Infinite Scale”. They had played shows on the west coast of Canada, and all across the U.S., but for some reason, they had neglected to drop by Toronto ever since the album came out over a year ago. As a matter of fact, they chose to invade stages all the way over in Europe before finally succumbing to the inevitable trip to The Horseshoe in Toronto.

The show fittingly took place the weekend before Halloween: the one time of year when extraterrestrials such as the Astro-men would not appear out of place. I would have thought that the crowd for such a show would have been a little more apt to don costumes for the occasion, but with the exception of a very convincing (and I’m guessing poorly air conditioned) robot, there weren’t really any otherworldly creatures around to provide cover for aliens from grid sector 23-B6-1.

If anyone seemed out of place, however, it was probably the lead off band, Cuff The Duke. Not only were they rather boring and average-looking guys, but their honky-tonk country twang seemed to be warming up the crowd for an entirely different headlining band. Still, by the end of their set, they had the people dancing and clapping along, in spite of their musical mundanity.

The Atomic 7, at least, had the courtesy to dress up before taking the stage. Featuring Brian Connelly, ex-Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet guitarist, they turned in a solid set of instrumental rock numbers while wearing some rather sharp-looking suits. At times the sound was clearly reminiscent of Shadowy Men, but there was also a rockabilly twist reinforced by the presence of a stand up bass player. I was surprised by the number of songs these guys were able to play, considering the fact that they don’t have any releases other than a lone 7″ (that I’m aware of anyway).

Also, they really take the instrumental thing to heart. Unlike Man or Astro-man, who like to talk non-stop in between songs, Atomic 7 didn’t even bring a mic on stage with them. One of the highlights of their set was what seemed to be a cover of the song they play during intermissions at drive-in movie theatres.

As impressive as they were, I felt kind of bad for Atomic 7, as they would not likely be remembered by many of the audience goers once they had been through the experience of a Man or Astro-man live performance. While the various computers and projection screens were being set up on stage, it became clear that we were all in for quite a treat.

With the departure of Blazar The Probe Handler, the Astro-men had decided to carry on their journey as a three piece band. I find it strange that in a band that plays instrumental surf-rock (very guitar-oriented music), the only two members who have been with the band from the start are the bassist and drummer. I suppose it explains why their sound has been subject to so many changes over the past few releases.

As a trio, the Astro-men were just as tight as ever. The sound was not lacking, and neither was the on-stage energy. They rocketed through a set that consisted of mostly songs from A Spectrum of Infinite Scale, mixed with some rather early material, much to the surprise (and delight) of the hardcore fans. They also introduced alternate versions of a few songs, including a sped-up and almost unrecognizable rendition of Junk Satellite.

With the necessary destruction of the EEVIAC mainframe computers at a show this past New Year’s Eve, the Man or Astro-man stage set now relies mostly on two projection screens; one of which presents a collage of video clips and psychadelic imagery, while the other provides a black and white mock security camera view of the stage. I had heard something about a giant brain in a tank, that they had been using on this tour, but it was sadly nowhere to be found. Perhaps it was seized at the border?

The Toronto crowd was also treated to an alleged first ever live performance of the international super-hit, A Simple Text File. For those who do not own the album A Spectrum of Infinite Scale, it is probably important to mention that A Simple Text File is a song performed entirely by an Apple Imagewriter dot matrix printer. Dot-matrix printers may be somewhat obsolete, but this in no way inhibits their innate ability to rock.

While the music was amazing, the on stage witticisms provided the icing on the cake. There was a running joke throughout the night where the band members pretended to get their Australian and Canadian musicians confused, and also a moment where Birdstuff ordered Coco to do push-ups for what he perceived to be a “user error” on his part during a song.

The Astro-set was closed out, as per usual, with several blasts of lightning from their home-made Tesla Coil, and although some people were calling out for an encore, you have to ask yourself, how can you possibly follow up such a thing? You can’t.

My only complaint about this kick ass show (and it is a minor one) would be the selection of songs that they chose to play. They may have been restricted with only one guitarist, but you know, a few more songs from albums like Experiment Zero, Made From Technetium or the 1000x EP would really have made my night.

Oh wait, actually I have one other complaint to make. You see, our night was marred by the experience of having our car towed for being illegally parked in downtown Toronto. I’d rather not recount the depressing details, but suffice to say, Toronto is a city of thieves. Everyone’s trying to make money off of you in one way or another. Don’t even bother trying to avoid paying the ridiculous prices in downtown parking lots, because you’ll just wind up subjecting yourself to more financials burden in the end.

Unfortunately, the city of Toronto is a necessary evil for fans of music in Ontario. And to be honest, any sacrifice made in the name of Man or Astro-man is a worthy one indeed.– Sean