Must be the moon, must be the moon

CONCERT REVIEW: !!!
July 22, 2008
Rex Theatre, Pittsburgh

Fresh off an acclaimed performance at the Pitchfork Music Festival, dance rockers !!! came to the Rex Theatre last night, delivering a nonstop dance party from start to finish.

The setlist didn't deviate much from a typical !!! show, although they did include a few new songs from their next album. "All My Heroes are Weirdos" got things moving, and "Heart of Hearts" and "Must Be the Moon" were among the other highlights.

Though the crowd was much smaller than I anticipated (maybe 300 people tops, which is less than little-known goth band Wednesday 13 had here last week), the band still gave its all. Which means singer Nic Offer climbing onto the speakers, two (and sometimes three) drummers pounding away, and Shannon Funchess shaking her sizable booty all over the stage. Very few bands are so good at firing up the crowd.

On a few occasions Offer gave props to Paul Quattrone, the drummer in Pittsburgh band Modey Lemon, who has served as !!!'s touring drummer for the past several months. Also worth mentioning were openers Icy Demons, who brought the funk with tracks like "Crittin' Down to Baba's."