Andrew W.K. and the Most Interesting Show In The World
Revolution Live, Fort Lauderdale
October 20, 2010
Better Than: Eating a bunch of bananas.
After waiting in the longest, scariest line -- re: mimes on stilts -- hundreds poured into Revolution to experience Andrew W.K. & Dos Equis' Most Interesting Show in the World. In a voice that was a cross between high school principal and motivational speaker, Andrew W.K. came over the loud speaker and welcomed the crowd. Most people were ambivalent to the fact that it was W.K. acting as announcer -- at this point, for them the night was about scoring more free cerveza.
Andrew W.K., dressed in his trademark white jeans and Air Jordans with a
white tuxedo coat, white top hat and a sparkly lamé t-shirt, bellowed
out "It's time to party!" As he stomped and smiled his way through the
opening jam, a squad of spicy red cheerleaders, led by W.K.'s
wife/aerobics instructor/burlesque dancer Cherie Lily brought a welcome
sexiness to the testosterone drenched stage.
W.K. and his band tore through a couple of back-to-back jams
with the kind of ferocity only a death metal band could pull off; a few members
of his band are actually members of Obituary. When W.K. said he needed to cool
down, he threw on a white fur pimp jacket and introduced Norway's Ice Sisters.
The band kept playing, while W.K. tickled the ivories and watched them jump
through the hoops. He was smiling in awe like the biggest kid that ever was. It
started fake snowing over the crowd. This was really shaping up to be the most
interesting show ever.
Like a vaudeville show, random act after random act performed stage. Rudy,
the Amazing Balancing Italian was first up. According to W.K. they "found him
in a back alley in Italy, balancing on one hand and eating a slice of pizza
with the other." He successfully balanced over a rotating table saw, as we
feared we'd be splattered with blood.
Texas's Mandy Lauderdale pulled a couple of unsuspecting
kids from the crowd. She roughed one guy up a bit; the other guy drank beer
from her hand and mouth and tasted a few of her dirty toes.
"This isn't just a show -- tonight is party!" The more we
watched, the more we stopped caring about looking cool. W.K.'s brand of joy was
powerfully contagious. He was throwing invisible fireballs into the crowd,
while he and Cherie Lily did a perfectly synchronized punch-dance (not to be
confused with fist pump).
The illusionist, Elliot Zimet, could pass for the
genetically engineered son of Brian Austin Green and Gob Bluth from Arrested
Development. Goofy image aside, we were impressed by his tricks, er, illusions. After a few doves came out of his sleeves, he made
a napkin turn into a three-foot parrot.
W.K., the ringleader of this amazing circus, kept the hits
coming between the acts. By the time he was singing hit song and show closer
"Party Hard," someone handed him a banana, which he proceeded to shove into his
pants and throw gleefully back into the crowd. When the song was over the crowd
shouted for more, the two-hour show seemed to breeze by in minutes. Sadly,
there was no encore.
Andrew W.K. is an entertainer like no other. He was aware of every
nuance on and off stage; he played off the band, the supporting acts and the
crowd perfectly. He brought us into his playworld and made it ours.
Personal Bias:I
once helped a friend paint every room of his house with "I Get Wet" blasting on
repeat.
The Crowd: People
who like to party, people who like free stuff and a guy with the most supreme blowout
south of Jersey.
Overheard in the Crowd:
"You gave him the banana? I'm so proud of you! I'm so proud of my boy!"
Show Breakdown:
-Andrew W.K.
"It's Time To Party"
"I Wanna See You Go Wild"
-The Ice Sisters
- Rudy, the Amazing Balancing Italian
-Mandy Lauderdale
"Back in Black"
"I Touch Myself"
-Bubble Man
-Cherie Lily
"Girl You Better Work"
"Arab Money"
-Andrew W.K.
"She Is Beautiful"
-Ice Sisters (Reprise)
-Mandy Lauderdale (Reprise)
-Illusionist, Elliot Zimet
-Andrew W.K.
"We Will Remember Tonight"
"Party Hard"
