By Jim Shea
It goes to show you, a band as notorious as Mindless Self Indulgence can still throw the craziest and wild live shows out there. For a quick history check, Mindless Self Indulgence (MSI, to some) is a New York City-based “alternative” band… by alternative, it means Mindless Self Indulgence’s music is hard to describe. Some call it “bastard pop,” but in reality, their music is an insane combination of punk, electronic, rock, hip hop, and other musical genres that fall into the mix. For their live shows, it’s the legions of devoted Mindless Self Indulgence fans that keep coming back for more. Not only that, but MSI fans will go to just about any lengths to show their love for the band.
Mindless Self Indulgence periodically go on tour and gets the buzz about them around, but on Feb. 24, the band threw a very special show at the infamous CBGB venue in downtown Manhattan. In fact, this was the band’s secret show as they went under the name “Bette Davis Eyes.” Up to about 300 people were given information about this secret show, either by invite or getting e-mailed the URL for obtaining tickets. This all seemed very good to make this an intimate show, but at the night of the show, it took longer than usual to get through the doors, so many people did not see kHz open up for Mindless Self Indulgence.
Once everyone got inside CBGB, it was time for Mindless Self… sorry, “Bette Davis Eyes,” to come on stage. As always, the crowd went hyper at the moment they started playing and Lil’ Jimmy Urine already started his usual on-stage antics. As songs like “Backmask” and “Bitches” see full crowd participation as the band feeds off from the crowd’s energy. During one moment of the performance, Jimmy Urine threw a large plastic garbage can at the audience and the crowd made good use of it during the song.
As the show went on, Mindless Self Indulgence played some of their classic tracks such as “I Hate Jimmy Page” and “Faggot” and new ones like “Thank God” and “Capitol P.” Another wild moment occurred when band members Steve Righ?, Lyn-Z, and Kitty kept on playing and in typical fashion, Jimmy Urine hopped into the crowd and marched right up and down the CBGB venue with his mic. A couple of times during the set, a few people got themselves on stage and danced away with the band. At the end of the show, you can definitely tell Mindless Self Indulgence is a unique band, but what makes them more unique is their live shows.
“There’s no place like home” when Mindless Self Indulgence invades CBGB, right here on Bleecker St. in lower Manhattan. Mindless Self Indulgence has played before at CBGB several times, but this night was something special. This was all about the real MSI diehards who came out and supported them for this secret show. Soon they’ll be heading to Indio, California to perform at the annual Coachella Music Festival with bands such as The Cure Radiohead, and Flaming Lips already set to appear. Given the setting of CBGB, you can get a true Mindless Self Indulgence experience at CBGB and be sure to catch them there whenever they come back to play.