PopTart Monkeys
Written by Gerry Ulicny
PA Music Scene
December 2009
When the Poptart Monkeys come to ‘Shendo it’s always a good time and Saturday December 5 was no exception.
Thunder Road located at 122 North Main Street, Shenandoah is the rockin’ nightclub for miles around (okay, okay, it’s the only actual ‘nightclub’ in Shenandoah, but it’s doing a good job!). This particular night they hosted the crazy PopTart Monkeys.
Though management (Bob Babarsky) bemoaned the attendance which had been lowered by a show in Pine Grove the Wednesday before, the rabid fans didn’t really care about that. With some good sponsorship, an aggressive tour schedule, and a rep that precedes them, the Monkeys are more than up-and-coming to their loyal fans.
They crowded the stage at the sound checks and remained on the floor while the band took another hour to do – something – before starting the show over an hour late.
“I don’t care, I’ll wait! These guys are great!” screamed Shenandoah girl Angie McCabe, who claimed to be on her “15th or so” time seeing the PopTart Monkeys.
With an insanely-long set list one would have wondered if this band could finish by the 2am closing time but they sped through their songs, barely breathing between one and the next. They didn’t chatter much either and when they did, they had a lot of bad words to say.
They had some trouble with some of their covers but they didn’t stop. They made up for it by remembering where they were and throwing around the local buzzwords like ‘kielbasy’ and ‘Yueng‘. Speaking of Yuengling, Thunder Road was out of Chesterfield Ale that night. I don’t drink it but at least 5 people told me that while I was there. It must be a big seller.
But the dance floor was full and the girls were screaming, even to the point that when the Monkeys turned the words of “Crazy Bitch” back on the girls in the front five or six rows, they practically swooned. Hands held high, girls screamed for more as lead singer Tyson Clark sang to “All you crazy bitches…”
The band has songs of their own as well and these were much tighter. Besides tracks from their album (Warner Bros) titled “Happily Never After”, they played around with some other things but never really made it clear what was new.
The Monkeys must have found something else to rink since their ’stage presence’ was exactly what it’s rumored to be – wild. They didn’t stop moving.
Thunder Road doesn’t have the biggest stage but it’s well laid out (the whole club is laid out well actually) and the lights and behind-the-scene stuff comes off well here since they have the room for it. They were lucky enough to have help on the soundboard from Victims of Vinyl, who played the following night.
The Monkeys made the most of their time, with wild light combos, energetic moves and a lot of creeping behind the curtains. It was a wild night but all in fun.
More fun than a barrel full of monkeys!
For more information:
PopTart Monkeys:
www.myspace.com/poptartmonkeys
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?v=wall&ref=search&gid=2245993483
Thunder Road:
www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/thunder462road?ref=ts
www.myspace.com/thunder462road
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