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Costume • “The
Bat Commander” of the Aquabats
demands attention in his decorative
costume during the July 23 concert. Matt
Logan / Summer Forty-Niner
The
Aquabats: Super rad ska, monster beat
downs, geeky costumes
By
Matt Logan
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
Clad in superhero masks, lycra (rash-guard) shirts and pro wrestler champion-style
belts, the boys of the Aquabats play their own brand of ska/pop/punk music
to venues full of screaming fans.
On July 23, the Aquabats, along with opening bands the Epoxies and the Phenomenauts,
blew the roof off the Henry Fonda Theatre in Los Angeles.
The Aquabats like to organize their shows to look and feel like a Saturday
morning cartoon, complete with onstage beatings of monsters/villains such as “Cobra
Man” or “Mud Girl” (phony monsters wearing funny costumes),
short breaks to show the fans commercials for their merchandise and phony self-improvement
products (with projector and screen) and their own funny genre of corny ska.
This show represented the completion of their “Teenage Pajamas From Outer
Space 2005 Summer Tour.”
Most “Aqua-Cadets,” as the fans are called, come to the shows in
silly outfits, attempting to look like the band and proclaim their devotion
to the Aquabat phenomenon.
Someone who has never been to an Aquabats show might feel they are in the middle
of a wild high school sleep over, or some retro superhero cartoon, but it is
that relaxed, “its okay to be a dork” atmosphere that pulls fans
of all ages into the zany vortex of Aquabats concerts.
Their set was mostly new material and the crowd sang along to all the songs.
But when the band hit a few older songs like “Super Rad”, “Pizza
Day” and “Martian Girl”, the pit hurled itself into a thunderous
frenzy of swarming kids running in circles and flying through the air.
The official Aquabat band members currently are code named as: “The Bat
Commander” — lead vocals, who is from the make-believe country
of Aquabania, “Crash McLarson”—bass/vocals, Chainsaw — guitar/vocals,
and has the superpower of the “razor sharp action chop,” “The
Robot “a.k.a., Jello-Aquabat-Mechanically-Enhanced-Saxophonist-3000,
(J.A.M.E.S.)” — keyboard/saxophone/vocals and “Ricky Fitness” — drums.
At one point during the show The Bat Commander was overcome and bitten by one
of the fake monsters Cobra Man, (basically a guy in a wacky costume). Luckily
the Robot, J.A.M.E.S., was able to charm the angry snake man with his sublime
saxophone sounds.
The Bat Commander was then mortally revived by the band playing “Don’t
Stop Believing” by Journey, as the crowd cheered and sang along.
The Aquabats just released a five-song EP covering songs from The Kinks, The
Plimsouls and The Kids of Widney High. So if you think you’re brave enough,
pick up a copy of their record and get a ticket to the next show, but don’t
forget to wear a cape, mask, Mexican wrestler cap or whatever it takes to look
like a dork and you’ll fit right in with the rest of the Aqua-Cadets. |
