London
29 January 2019
A couple of months ago, the world lost perhaps its greatest showman, the driving force behind the creation of an entire universe: Stan Lee. Today, his creations and co-creations are everywhere — on our TV screens, at the cinema, in book stores and adorning all types of clothing, from socks to baseball caps. His influence on the world of popular culture was massive.
As was his influence on another showman, Monster Magnet‘s Dave Wyndorf. While Monster Magnet these days don’t riff so much on the comics stuff, it’s always been in their DNA, from name-checking Jack Kirby in “Melt” to having an actual mutant named after their song “Negasonic Teenage Warhead”. Which isn’t as weird as it sounds.
Metal, and stoner metal in particular, has always been a gleefully nerdy genre, not ashamed to say “yeah, I read comics and think dragons are pretty fucking cool, what of it?” Monster Magnet’s forte has always been blending this aspect of metal with the sex, drugs and rock’n’roll one, resulting in a creature that is as much Hawkwind as it is Black Sabbath, while not actually sounding too much like either. Tonight, Wyndorf is very much the showman. In Gonzo shirt and biker cut, he leads the band through a stunning set of Monster Magnet at their galactic, sleazy best. Drawing from points all over their lengthy career, he switches from the none-more-Stooges lecherous apocalypticism of “Rocket Queen” to the intergalactic menace of “Look To Your Orb For The Warning” like it ain’t no thing, while the band churn out Iommi-heavy rock and roll. Air-humping like a priapic space teen, he’s having an awful lot of fun spinning his tales of sex, drugs and alien abduction, playing the space opera to Tool‘s bleak hard SF, the Star Wars to their Three Body Problem. Nerdiness has never looked so cool this side of the Wu-Tang Clan.And although we’re all adults, there’s still something hilariously exhilarating about being exhorted to shout “motherfucker” during “Space Lord”, and also something quite bittersweet about being treated to “Powertrip” as a closer, with its “I’m never gonna work another day in my life” chorus being a sad reminder that, well, it’s a Tuesday and there’s work in the morning. But for the last hour and a half, it’s felt like partying at the end of the world.
Monster Magnet not only gave us a great gig tonight, they also gave me the excuse I needed to smuggle a Stan Lee obituary onto a music site.Excelsior!
-Words: Justin Farrington-
-Pictures: Samantha Penny-
