“Party, party, party!” the crowd cheered. The lights dimmed and the hooting and hollering erupted. Slowly, the chant turned into “We want blood, we want blood!” Someone unfamiliar with Andrew W.K. might have become a tad uncomfortable at that cheer. The cheer subsided when a powerful and commanding voice echoed over the speakers.
“We are all here tonight because we want to have fun. Tonight, we are all friends. Tonight, we are going to forget the bad feelings and focus on the good ones.”
It was like someone was going over the rules of “party fight club,” with the club’s first two rules being perfectly summed up in Andrew W.K.’s introduction during his Sunday show at the Majestic Theater: “This is not a show. Some people might still be a little confused. This is not a show. This is a party!”
The use of the word “party” at an Andrew W.K. show is very similar to “Hakuna Matata.” Even the crowd at an Andrew W.K. show is similar to a crowd of wild and hairy animals having a crazy-good time.
Once the speech was finished, Andrew W.K. took to the stage and proceeded to blow the Majestic’s frickin’ roof off. Dressed in a white t-shirt and white pants with long hair and a scruffy beard, it is no wonder why W.K. named his latest tour the “Party Messiah Solo Tour 2013.”
The stage setup was very simple. There was a keyboard on a small platform and three microphones: two for Andrew, one for his back-up vocalist. The emptiness of the stage turned out to be a very wise decision, as it maximized the area for partying. W.K made full use of it.
The setlist included fan favorite party anthems, including “Party Hard,” “Ready to Die,” and a crowd-pleasing twist on “I Love NYC,” turning it into “I Love Wis-Con-Sin.” There was a lot of fun riffing between W.K. and his back-up vocalist, including an improvised song, “My Dad was a Badger,” as well as a segment where anyone from the audience was allowed to come up on stage to learn some dance moves from W.K. himself. More and more audience members climbed up on stage and soon there were about 20 or so people on stage all lined up to do the two-step. The audience members were then encouraged to stay on stage and continue to sing, dance and party right alongside the Party Messiah himself.
Head thrashing, raging, fist pumping, aggressive jumping and forceful hand motions pretty much sums up what was going on onstage and in the crowd. The mosh pit got pretty intense, especially when songs about partying were played. These songs had people in a fury, shaking beer cans and letting the white foam shower everyone in the crowd. However, it was clear that it was all in good fun, as everyone had a smile on their face and a cheerful disposition.
The only nitpicky criticism about the show was it ended a little prematurely without much warning. The time really flew by, and by the reactions from the audience, it seemed as though many Madisonians were just warming up for more partying. But considering how hard Andrew W.K. threw down and all of the sweat and energy he puts into his performances, no one can really complain.
To any non-believers out there, spend a night in the Church of Andrew and allow yourself to be converted to The Party.
