Man Man, Elf Power, Summerbirds in the Cellar
Words: Christian Crider
Photos: Michael Spadoni

Appeared:
June 28, 2007
The Orpheum, Ybor City

After paying to get into Camel Cigarettes’ "free" show, I was immediately struck by smoke, and the strong sense that I was the target of some crazy demographic marketing scheme. It’s true, I paid to get in the door, but the cigarettes were free and so was the finger paint.

As Summerbirds In the Cellar took the stage, I couldn’t help but notice a brown paper canvas smeared haphazardly with blue and yellow finger trails. The three-piece Summerbirds were loud and energetic, yet sometimes subdued, shoegaze with sleepy vocals and grungy guitars. Their excellent performance garnered the attention of the crowd and set the tone for a night of good music.

Next up was Elf Power. Aside from sounding too much like the last decade’s alt-rockers, Elf Power’s performance was relatively flawless, and I have to give them credit for putting on a good show.

It was getting late by the time Elf Power finally cleared the stage. The tears in my eyes were not those of weariness or disappointment, but rather a direct result of the gargantuan amount of smoke that hung in the air. The finger painting canvas had fallen victim to the hands of vandals, looking more like a Rorschach test than a work of art.

By the time Man Man came on stage, the crowd had been whipped into a nicotine-induced frenzy. The six-piece Man Man is an odd collection of neon clothing, tennis attire, face paint, mullets, beards, and instruments. Their music is a chemical bond of flapper-era Chicago jazz mixed with the Muppets mixed with the Mos Eisely Cantina house band. Man Man is eccentric in their presentation and collection of instruments rarely used in the production of modern rock. Their sound is beautifully schizophrenic. Man Man is the most bizarre performance I have seen in a long time, but also one of the best.