At the hipster-hop
Mad Rad is coming to Jazzbones and all hell is likely to break loose
BY REV. ADAM MCKINNEY

In music, there’s often a tug-of-war between recording and performance. Some bands, like TV on the Radio, can’t quite manage to translate the magic of the recording studio to the stage. Others come alive when put in front of an audience. For me, the ideal transference of record to performance would be to forget about replicating the intricacies of the record; instead, the focus would be entirely on taking advantage of the fertile grounds of a venue. Light up the audience, and they don’t give a shit about how much it sounds like the album.

“This is Tacoma,” says Sean Culver, booker for Jazzbones. “Booking a band that’s banned in Seattle is a totally 253 kind of thing.” Culver refers, of course, to Mad Rad — the rowdy Seattle hipster electro-hip-hop group that (at one point at least) was banned from seven venues on Capitol Hill. As great as their songs sound on their record (White Gold), when they are put in front of a crowd they turn into a whole other animal. Their aforementioned bans were caused by raucous performances, usually fueled by massive amounts of alcohol and various illicit substances.

While it’s basically a forgone conclusion that Mad Rad won’t be able to reproduce White Gold live, they really don’t even try. Their live shows are spectacles — communal experiences that break down barriers between audience and performer. By the end of the show, everyone is drunk, high, out of breath, covered with sweat, and loving every minute of it. Mad Rad doesn’t make it down to Tacoma very often, and there’s always the possibility that Jazzbones will ban them from returning — so take advantage of this rare opportunity.

The show is also a benefit for Nasty Left’s fallen member, Danny “D Child” Cline, who died of cancer over the summer. Nasty Left is also on the bill, and the performance will mark the band’s first time back on stage since Cline’s passing.

So come out, get drunk, and show some T-town love.

[Jazzbones, Mad Rad with Nasty Left, DJ Darwin, DJ Hanibal, show also include the Bogeyman Art Show featuring artists James Hume, Jeremy Gregory, Brook Pawlicki, James Bender, GRYM, Ann Koi, AcidTest, Laura Eklund, Matthew Scott and Ryan Loiselle 9 p.m., $5-$8, 2803 Sixth Ave, Tacoma, 253.396.9169]