Noise Pop Day 1, Tuesday February 23
Enter Bender’s, duck around a beet-red-faced drunk trying to claim
he’s my plus one. Yeah, sure buddy. Zeitgeist is the other way,
man. Jeez. Cue the techno remixes. Thank you live one o’ whatever. Just
what the Pete Tong did I RSVP myself into?
I am met with Jacob Fury and Miles, the DJ responsible for the techno.
So I tell Miles, “Hey, that’s some techno you got going on there.”
“Yeah, I know I was going to play more indie rock, but DJ Dan started it
off with the techno and I sort of went with it.” And
while the indie got about as far as the Postal Service, the
conversation was good amongst the hungry press corps.
Then the people filled in, bearing their LIVE 105 shirts that read in
big upper case bold, “BE STUPID,” with “for successful living” as the
lowest logo denominator. The excitement grew as the open bar came to a
close.
Har Mar Superstar, that fame whoring-everyman who warmed up the crowd
by hanging out with them before his grand performance, took center stage. Watching him sip
Tecate and co-mingling with various fans reinforced the love that many
had flocked around to see. And believe me, love is what we all received
from Har Mar.
Emerging with a bassist backed by a host of pre-recorded production, Har
Mar Superstar went way back into his little red book to play his
back catalog. With each nostalgic self indulgent groove, he shed a
layer of clothing in strip tease fashion. He chided the audience of
hardened hipsters to give him something he could feel, saying, “Let me
hear you scream!” The crowd roared back at its beloved and wonky
minstrel as he took his act into the audience, mic chord
serving as an umbilical tail back to the stage.
He then began wailing into “Brothers and Sisters” before stripping down
into his skivvies and posturing like the nearly-nude, portly Adonis that
he knows he is, hanging from bike hooks and shaking his junk in the
faces of unsuspecting fans. Impose photographer Jenz described him best as “the love child between Ron Jeremy and Jon
Lovitz.” I still want to get a recording of him reciting “it stinks” ad nauseum. Long live Noise Pop!
