illusionofjoy | The Forbidden Zone & The Gothees (Reply)

Eschewing the unimpressive lineup that comprised of Masquerade 8, joi_division and I went to The Oaks Theater for their screening of Forbidden Zone, a cult classic starring or produced by half of the Elfman family and from which the seeds of Oingo Boingo were sown.

Prior to the film, the Oaks had booked a performance by The Gothees (pronounced GAWTH-EEEES). I had heard of this group and thought their concept - 60s bubblegum pop combined with 80s mopiness - might serve up an interesting brew. Unfortunately I found that their implementation of this idea was flawed, at best. The five members of the group are all competent musicians - in fact, at their individual instruments, they are all quite good. The first problem crops up in the tightness of the band. While they may have all been playing the same song, they didn't deliver on a united front. Another problem is the no member of this band can sing! What of the concept itself though? Honestly, I was hoping for original music in the genre(s) that the band had opted to play. While the band does have a catalogue of original tunes, that night they opted for covers. This didn't work particularly well as it had a tendency to destroy songs, rather than make them cute or kitschy. In one strident example of the Gothees manifesto gone wrong was a cringeworthy cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" played on an accordion. "Weird Al" might be proud, though I opted to leave the room for the duration of the song and buy a tub of popcorn for Joi.

For my troubles, however, I did win a Forbidden Zone film poster, presented to me by The Gothees themselves.