By Caitlyn Gilvary
Two Thursdays ago, Nov. 20, at the legendary B.B. King's in Manhattan, ska superheroes, The Aquabats performed to a crowd of mostly teenage "cadets" (a term used to refer to their card-carrying fan club members). Openers were Tragedy (the self-proclaimed "greatest metal Bee Gees tribute band of the tri-state area") and bubblegum ska kids Suburban Legends. Both acts left much to be desired by the way of genuine music, Tragedy being a painfully overrated novelty appealing exclusively to the few drunk businessmen in the audience old enough to remember the heydays of both the Bee Gees and hair metal. Suburban Legends was the opposing end of the spectrum. Sounding something like the bastard child of the Backstreet Boys and Reel Big Fish, their few redeeming qualities consisted of choreographed dance moves and a moderately impressive stage presence (that is to say, at least the prepubescent skankers were entertained enough to flail aimlessly around the moshpit).
The headliners took to the stage not a moment too soon, its five members dressed head to toe in their notorious blue superhero costumes (embossed with a black capital 'A'), complete with black masks (available at their merch table for the unhealthily obsessed) and black cargo shorts. The band was sandwiched between two projection curtains playing prerecorded clips during their set, giving the entire experience a certain theatrical, yet impersonal feel. Opening with "Fashion Zombies" (a crowd favorite, if one were to measure in aggression of the mob's countless waves), The Aquabats left no floor participants uninspired. As for those Tragedy-loving businessmen who stayed out of the crowd and clung closely to the corners of the bar, minimal effort was exerted at involvement. Their disinterest went unnoticed for the majority of the evening and the Aquabats played on. The remainder of their set was unapologetically crammed with song after song of trivial subject matter, including "Pizza Day" - a song about every middle schooler's favorite day of the school week and "Super Rad!" - a track that can be best described as a nostalgic look at the excitement found in a child's imagination. Accompanying the playful lyrics, a signature of the band's genre, was an equally as lighthearted sound.
The scheduled set finished during the song "Magic Chicken!" when a fictional villain - a tall scrawny man dressed in a cape and chicken mask, confronted the fictional superheroes. hreatening to ruin everyone's night, the Magic Chicken threw pieces of a snack food resembling that of tortilla chips into the crowd he was already taunting. MC Bat Commander managed to not merely subdue his nemesis, but ultimately defeat him with the help of the audience's cheers and applause. After the band left the stage, to the roar of sweaty preteens demanding more, their prerecording continued. The video followed the Aquabats backstage and outside onto their five waiting horses. As they rode away, members realized they had left a room full of kids chanting for an encore. The clip then films the band returning to the venue, during which the live Aquabats reemerge onto stage.
Their encore performance was the splicing of three different songs together through the common theme of crime fighting. After this 15-minute triad of tunes, the band left the stage for good to even more applause than their first exit.