Seth Bogart @ Comet Ping Pong - 6/16/16
Asses were slapped by leather jackets, strange advertisements for fake products were played, and inflatable objects were waved around on stage: Just another night in Seth Bogart’s world.
Seth Bogart doesn’t do concerts. He does performances. ‘The Seth Bogart Show’ was part-concert, part-kitschy public access show parody, part-funhouse, and a full-on art piece that concertgoers won’t normally get from anything other than a Katy Perry- or Lady Gaga-like arena show.
The stage was adorned with cardboard set pieces and wall draping's that were reminiscent of shows like Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, but with a stronger DIY work ethic. Covering the entire back wall of the stage was a white blanket that served as the video backdrop for the entire performance. Before Seth took the stage, the show opened with a video clip that looks like it came out of a 90s public access TV show, complete with lo-fi music and video effects plucked straight from the VHS (even the LaserDisc) era. This theme carried throughout the show as fake commercials were placed in-between songs - for example, one commercial advertised something called ‘Mantyhose’.
Drag Queen Salvadora Dali opening for Seth Bogart at Comet Ping Pong in Washington, DC - 6/16/16 (photo by Mauricio Castro / @themauricio
Appearing on stage in a shiny jacket, slick short hair, and a pencil thin moustache, Bogart used the fake commercials as opportunities to change into different outfits. Hand-crafted jackets adorned with song titles on the sides, like “PLASTIC!”, and even odder antics defined the kitschy vibe of the performance. At one point, Bogart lifted an inflatable object resembling makeup with eyes and a mouth into the air waving it around in every direction, as he danced on stage, clutching it in a strong embrace. Tame considering that he's been known to make out with people in the audience in the past.
All of this, of course is leaving out the most important aspect of the show: THE MUSIC.
As the former frontman of Hunx and His Punx, Seth was known for kinetic garage-punk tunes, but his latest musical effort draws more from 80's new wave and, in his words, Radio Disney, Le Tigre, and even Kraftwerk. On songs like "Club With Me", The pounding kick drums and synth tracks filled the room as Seth danced about on stage and then into the crowd, daring them to (dare I say it) club with him. And slightly-slower songs like "Lubed" had Seth slinking around on stage, asking the crowd "Don't you wanna get lubed?" as one of Seth’s lo-fi commercials for lube played on the backdrop. A lot was going on for the audience to take in all at once - if you weren't dancing to these pop songs, you were watching an entertaining (or at the very least, unique) clip being played on the screen.
By the time the show was over, the crowd left Comet Ping Pong asking one another, “Can you believe what we just saw?” Musicians like Empire of the Sun and Grimes have garnered rave reviews for placing the concert experience just as highly as the album experience at larger venues, but you rarely witness that at smaller venues these days, yet Seth Bogart delivered not just a concert, but a visual treat, stamped with his own, weird, DIY pop sensibilities.
Opening the night was Pearie Sol, the solo project of Teen Liver frontman Perry Fustero. For his solo project, he traded the guitars of his DC-based punk band for a sole synthesizer, offering a more subdued sound than what Teen Liver fans would be used to while retaining the vocal stylings that he's known for. Also performing that night was drag queen Salvadora Dali, who while not a musician, put on a very entertaining show for the crowd and kept it professional even when sound problems appeared during the performance. (And yes, dollar bills were thrown from the crowd. Can Comet Ping Pong say they've had that happen very often?)
