Thursday, March 20, 2014 marked the day that brought a night of bizarre wonder to Raleigh. Who, do you ask, was responsible for bringing this ridiculously magical experience to the masses? None other than former child, Macaulay Culkin.
An antsy crowd filled the sold out Kings Barcade as they awaited the performance. Toby Goodshank, of the Moldy Peaches, warmed up the audience with a solo acoustic set including songs centered around love and heartache. His voice sounding much like Colin Meloy’s of The Decemberists. While he performed, a screen behind him displayed black and white video footage of various road trips and people. During his set there was a man on stage dressed to the nines as Andy Warhol complete with a striped shirt, blonde wig, and video camera in hand while he captured Meloy’s performance. He was later seen eating a banana…well played, sir.
Following Meloy’s intimate set The Pizza Underground took the stage. Before they began, they passed around nearly ten boxes of pizza for the crowd to which everyone was beyond excited about. The band delivered an eccentric and pun-filled thirty-minute performance with songs including “I’m Beginning to Eat the Slice,” “Papa John Says,” “I’m Waiting for Delivery Man,” and “Take a Bite of the Wild Slice.” Of course these are all pizza-themed covers of The Velvet Underground’s “Beginning To See the Light,” “Stephanie Says,” “I’m Waiting For The Man,” and “Take a Walk on the Wild Side.” Instruments included an electric guitar,a glockenspiel, a pizza box, a kazoo, and an African shekere. Video footage played in the background making the whole performance feel more like an art installation.
At one point during their set, Meloy took the stage as “Kurt Cobain’d” and performed a slew of Nirvana songs in the past tense. Get it?
Overall, this much anticipated show was ultimately what one might expect from a former child actor- a memorable novelty concert of 2014. It certainly wasn’t breaking ground in terms of musical talent but it was entertaining nonetheless.
