The gentle Sunday evening becomes a tad more interesting when Dutch four-piece !Pendejo! (2.5/5) takes to the stage and serve up their unique mix of heavy brutal brass-infused riffage laced with what they describe as ‘Spanish urban lyrics’.
Whatever you may think of !Pendejo!, they sure provide an interesting concoction of noise that grabs the attention of the venues growing capacity. Founded by two cousins of Latino origin, El Pastuso and Jaap ‘Monchito’ Melman have created a sort of magnificent Frankenstein musical approach to !Pendejo!, as they draw from their Latin roots all the while, drip-feeding a magnificent layered structure of crunching hard rock/stoner riffs and surprising, and at times bizarre twists and turns. Imagine a Mike Patton inspired approach to Queens of the Stone Age but laced with mind-altering narcotics.
Their latest studio album ‘Atacames’ was released in 2014 and available to stream, via this link.
“Alright Dublin, we got ourselves a Rock n’ Roll situation right here!” These were the immortal words of the somewhat enigmatic Mr Wyndorf as he bursts onto the stage looking very much like the iconic rock star that he is.
Having waiting 14 years for this moment, every grinning punter under the Tivoli Theatres roof is very much in Wyndorfs church, willing and ready for a ceremony that has taken a long-ass time to get here.
Opening with ‘Dopes to Infinity‘, guitarists Phil Caivano and Garett Sweeny waste no time in laying down a thick, warm, plethora of magic carpet riffs, and we’re off!
Wyndorf is a spectacular front-man and he’s on fire tonight as he coaxes the front row from the lip of the Tivoli stage under the flickering stage lights. The opening sequence continues with ‘Rocket Freak‘, ‘Soul’ and the title track from their recently released ‘Mindfucker‘ LP.
Considering Wyndorf will be 62 years old this year, his onstage persona is as captivating as it was back in the early 90’s, if not better. Wasting little time with between-song banter, Wyndorf commands the Tivoli with gusto and confidence that can only come with the guts of 3o years experience and it pays off as tonight’s capacity are soaking up every last drop and returning it tenfold, much to the delight of the frontman, who displays his approval with a grin from ear to ear.
Chris Kosnik (bass) and Bob Pantella (drums) have a subtle visual presence under the stage lights, but none the less, provide a tremendous and solid backbone from start to finish, as they punch out a flawless backbone for the likes of ‘Look to Your Orb for the Warning‘ and ‘Negasonic Teenage Warhead’.
With close to an hour in, the introduction of ‘Space Lord’ see’s Wyndorf announcing this as their last song, which seems a little premature as things were just heating up, but fuck it! This is Monster Magnet and they can do whatever the fuck they want!
The audience opens their lungs, bellowing back the infamous ‘Space Lord Motherfucker‘, which I’m sure was carried across the evening breeze to local residents who were hoping for a peaceful Sunday evening under the glorious Summer sky.
Bidding their farewell, Monster Magnet exit the stage, only to return 5 mins later for a triple stack of classics in the form of ‘Ejection‘, ‘End of Time‘ and the infectious ‘Powertrip‘ before the house lights finally come up.
Was it worth the wait? You bet your ass it was! Let’s hope we see Monster Magnet back on Irish soil sooner rather than later. Awesome! 4/5
Overdrive spoke with Monster Magnet vocalist, Dave Wyndorf upon the release of ‘Mindfucker‘ earlier this year. Get the full feature interview via this link.
Photo gallery – Down The Barrel Photography, exclusively for Overdrive © 2018
Oran O’Beirne
Photo – Down The Barrel Photography
© www.overdrive.ie 2018. All Rights Reserved.
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