CONCERT REVIEW: Goin’ ape with 100 Monkeys!

****PLEASE NOTE: CLICKING ON PHOTOS BELOW WILL OPEN AN ENLARGED PHOTO IN A NEW WINDOW/TAB 🙂 ****

Saturday night, I, along with Apu, TayloredMyPants and hundreds of fans rocked out next to a dumpster in an alley on the corner of Main St. and E. Hastings.

Kidding.

Though not the safest or cleanest area to chill out on a Saturday night, many ventured to the Rickshaw Theatre in Vancouver’s infamous downtown east side to catch Twilight saga’s Jackson Rathbone’s band, The 100 Monkeys, play a show.

The concert was to start at 8:00pm while doors were to open at 7:00. We were hoping to arrive there by 6:15pm knowing that the TwiHards were going to come super early to perhaps catch a glimpse of Rathbone (“Jasper Hale”). The three of us; however, were running late and knew we were probably going to be at the back of a long line.

Apu arrived at the theatre half-an-hour before us and txt’d me that the line had already stretched near a block long.

When TayloredMyPants and I finally caught up to Apu, I observed an eclectic variation of people in line — from the regular folk, the indie/rock crowd, older people, young’uns (including families with their children — I even saw a BABY!), and of course the TwiHards.

I also saw RobbedMyHeart & co. and a few familiar faces again!

As the line finally started moving, albeit way later than scheduled, the three of us planned to book it to the front row of seats or as close as we could get.

I walked through the theatre doors and there were already at least 80 people that crowded around the stage — there was open standing room floor space between the stage and the theatre seats which could fit a few hundred standing… This, we did not know.

And of course, as usual, everyone in front of me was taller than I was. Damn genes. To add to my problem, the theatre had no air conditioning or ventilation, so the room got hot very quickly. It felt like we were in a sauna.

We waited in our own sweat for the opening act, Vancouver’s own Thee Manipulators, to begin. However, someone else came on stage instead.

He was from a new band called The Orphans who are coming to play in Vancouver sometime next month. He was here to just “give us a little taste”.

Yeah, so he may have sported a bouffant from the Shakespearean era, but don’t let his looks fool you. He was pretty darn good — probably one of the best indie opening acts I’ve ever seen. Though he came solo, he used a pedal to perform the back beats, played his guitar ferociously, and made sure to keep his audience entertained with conversation.

If the full band is anything like this one guy, or better, I’ll be sure to check them out.

Next, Thee Manipulators came on stage with matching black cowboy shirts and red neckerchiefs. Yes, I said neckerchiefs. LOL.

They got off to a rough start having technical difficulties with their equipment. More waiting around.

A couple of the band members tried to entertain us by making conversation. Finally, a guy came up on stage – whether he was from the Rickshaw Theatre or a roadie, I’m not sure. But he spit out some beats and rapped for us until their equipment problems were resolved. Not too shabby.

Thee Manipulators weren’t my cup ‘o tea. I couldn’t hear any of the lyrics that were sung. But other than that, I just wasn’t a big fan. One of the band members; however, kept me into them only for the fact that he looks and acts like a hybrid of crazy Robert Downey, jr. and hot throb Uncle Jesse from Full House. Sorry if you disagree with me, but this was the only thing that got me going. And if you agree with me… *high five*! During one of their songs they threw into the crowd mini tambourines and maracas so that we can get involved. TayloredMyPants caught an orange maraca. Jealous. lol.

When their set ended, the theatre got even hotter and I can feel wet stickiness all over my body. The space around you and the people near you soon closed in even closer as nearly everyone was trying to jam themselves onto the floor. Next up was Rathbone and the boys.

Oh, and before I forget, I’d like to apologize to *anyone* whom I’ve rubbed my disgusting sweaty body up against during the show. Trust me when I say I tried avoiding you.

The 100 Monkeys came on stage to tune their instruments; meanwhile, my eardrums almost exploded due to the screaming fan girls all around me.

Before the 100 Monkeys officially began, I noticed a lot of camera flashes towards the side of the stage on the floor level, but speakers were blocking my way, so I couldn’t see. Next thing I knew, walking across the stage was Rathbone’s co-Twilight cast members, Nikki Reed (“Rosalie Hale”) and Elizabeth Reaser (“Esme Cullen”), along with Nikki’s current bf Paris Latsis (Paris Hilton’s ex). They climbed up an above-staged VIP seating area. Minutes later, TayloredMyPants told me to look up at the VIP area again — STEPHANIE MEYER (Twilight saga author) was also present. I KNOWWW!!! (Poor lighting and a not-so-awesome camera makes for really bad and grainy photos. Oh well, I tried.)

Throughout the whole 100 Monkeys performance, you could barely hear the boys sing (especially down on floor level) as all you could hear were girls screaming — usually for Rathbone. I also noticed that cameras were almost always being pointed towards Rathbone or the VIP area. I think it’s safe to say that the majority of the concert-goers actually came to see their fave Twilight stars.

They belted out song after song, even doing their famous ‘invent-a-song’ song. They asked suggestions for a topic from the crowd. The first person screamed out “ACORN!” That got rejected pretty quickly and everyone chuckled at the idea; one of the monkeys saying that suggestion sucked. After a dozen or so more crappy suggestions, they stuck with the original suggestion — Acorn. How uncreative are we?

The boys are very talented. Most bands stick to their one and only instrument. The 100 Monkeys; however, rotated almost after every song exchanging instruments with each other. And for the record, Rathbone played rhythm guitar, bass guitar, the keyboards, and drums.

One of my favourite moments of the performance was when Jackson Rathbone did a silly dance along with one of the songs. Too cute. See the video below.

It was a quarter-past-midnight and the show didn’t end yet, even though it was scheduled to finish at 11:00pm. The three of us decided to leave before the buses we needed quit running. I don’t think we wanted to be stuck in that neighbourhood in the middle of the night.

Despite the heat and moisture, the show was most excellent. I finally got to see Jackson Rathbone much closer — he was only 5 metres away from me!!

Good times.

Be sure to see the 100 Monkeys live in Vancouver again this Sunday evening at the Backstage Lounge at Granville Island. See their myspace page for more details.

***VIDEOS OF THE 100 MONKEYS at the Rickshaw Theatre below***

100 Monkeys in Vancouver 9/12/09 – The Monkey Song

100 Monkeys in Vancouver 9/12/09 – Jackson Rathbone’s dancing