Killy Dwyer, Joe Yoga, Mike Milazzo and Bamboo Silva
I thought it was a very good sign that my latest obsession, Lady Gaga’s pulsating, driving song Teeth, was blaring as I entered Under St. Marks to get ready to see Killer Killy Dwyer’s latest offering “Kill The Band” which is not just the name of her band, but which is also the name of the show that’s part of Frigid Festival 2010. I saw it as a good omen not just because I haven’t been able to get the song out of my head these last few weeks, but more because the song is the type of song that gets down into you and makes you bop in your seat and I figured a gal who was serving up Gaga as the appetizer must have the all-you-can-eat-buffet to back it up. Musically speaking, of course.
Kill The Band (photo by Craig Schober)
Kill The Band is a little real, a little rehearsed, and a whole lotta rockin’ out. If you’ve come to Under St. Marks to laugh … you’re in luck. But if you’ve come to laugh AND to see a great live show performed by a great band, you’ve hit the trifecta (or the thing that comes before the trifecta). Killy Dwyer, along with band-mates Mike Milazzo (on guitar), Joe Yoga (on base), and Bamboo Silva (beat-boxing) do an incredible job of balancing smart with funny with catchy (THERE’s your trifecta). With songs like Girl Balls (I’m not your f*ckin GPS, bitch find your own way) and Clone U I was sold. But nothing could have prepared me for the Kumbayah moment when the whole audience joined in on the chorus of Ben Kinsley (no one respects an Indian or a Jew unless they’re played by Ben Kingsley!). Trust me, it was touching.
Aside from the songs themselves, Killy does a spot on “Dear Future Killy” note to herself from a very young “Past Killy” (To be opened 20 years in the future in March 2010) where she gushes about the wonders of Times Square (and how she will spend EVERY SINGLE NEW YEAR’S EVE THERE when she moves to New York) and notes how she will mark the passage of her career as a Broadway Actress by which Les Miserable character she is going to be playing.
With her very talented band backing her up, and playing the fall guys for many of her routines one is reminded of a sideways-world Spinal Tap where all the other band members are Derek Smalls, constantly being under appreciated. Of course, again, it’s all in good fun and the joke’s on Killy as she’s left to work out Girl Balls against an unfinished track when she pushes her band just a little too far.
While there’s no doubt that each of the quartet serves as an invaluable member of this show, as well as this band, I must say that the addition of sound effects from the beat-boxing Bamboo Silva (both to the musical numbers as well as to some of the comedy routines) elevates this band into a whole other stratosphere. Silva is able to bind everything together in a way I’ve never quite seen done before, and it’s an amazing thing to watch him work with these talented musicians.
The evening is outrageous, infection and raucous. On a scale of 1 to 10, this group goes to 11.
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Written and Performed by Killer Killy Dwyer and her band, Kill The Band (Mike Milazzo, Joe Yoga, and Bamboo Silva) Wednesday, February 24, 2010 through Sunday, March 07, 2010 Under St. Marks 94 St. Marks Place New York, NY 10003 Click here for tickets.
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