Man Man rolled into Milwaukee Friday night, bringing with them several drums, a saxophone, a trumpet, a bunch of stainless steel buckets, a couple keyboards, keys on key rings, and a handful of...spoons, maybe?
The band situated close together, occupying only about half the stage while little toy tchotchkes offered a modest set decoration. Dressed all in white, save for lead singer Honus Honus, who sported a black t-shirt and white cutoff jeans, the band took the stage in streaks of white war paint.
Then came the rumbling and Honus Honus' voice bellowed forth. Drumsticks found noise in everything from the drum kits to the amplifiers and the overturned metal buckets. In contrast, brass instruments swirled around the stage, snaking through high and low notes, while the piano heavily clinked and clanked in rhythm.
Man Man finds musical inspiration in a pool of musical diversity, listening to everything from New Orleans accordion music to Brazilian meringue and even heavy metal, and it shows. Their tunes bounced back and forth between heavy dirges, bouncing polkas, and maybe I'm grabbing at straws, but there even seems to be a hint of Bollywood influence. Their compacted stage presence increased the intensity of the performance where the band took those influences, chopped them up, sewed in their own wicked sense of humor and threw it out into the audience.
The set was heavily peppered with tracks from their first two albums, but this night was dedicated more to their newest release, "Rabbit Habits", which seems to take their sound and tone it down. There are less growls and more melody. Less piano hammering and more guitar. Perhaps more lyrical honesty. After the set the band returned for their requisite encore they chilled out with a few slower tracks before returning to their jaunting, dancing, reckless form, leaving their audience hot, sweaty, and satisfied.
Opener Tim Fite proved to be the surprise of the evening. His set included guest Dr. Leisure who acted as an assistant to corral and energize the crowd and help with backing vocals. Fite's main stage show included a sort of hilarious instructional video that played through the set, instructing the audience in regards to group participation. It also and acted as backup singers, displaying up to three more Tim Fites who sang and played along. Sometimes the video was funny, such as the lesson on what dogs eat, displaying a crudely animated dog eating food, babies, tacks, poop, and more. Other times it was borderline pushing it, like a participatory round of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Fite's set alternated between indie folk rock and hip hop, but there was some genuine entertainment to be found in it, not simply empty irony.
Overall, Man Man ran the risk of putting a better performance before their own, potentially leading to an imbalanced night, but their energy was intense and they held their end well.
Jason McDowell grew up in central Iowa and moved to Milwaukee in 2000 to attend the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
In 2006 he began working with OnMilwaukee as an advertising designer, but has since taken on a variety of rolls as the Creative Director, tackling all kinds of design problems, from digital to print, advertising to branding, icons to programming.
In 2016 he picked up the 414 Digital Star of the Year award.
Most other times he can be found racing bicycles, playing board games, or petting dogs.
