In case you haven't heard of The Exploding Corn Group yet, here's a brief overview: dried ears of corn explode around them as they play music.
Settling in right before they got there, I managed to grab a good seat at the front of the bar. When the band came in (Smudge, lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Golden, lead guitar; R. T. Chalk, bass; Thong, keyboards; Sam Millikan, drums) they were quite sedate, and immediately started to examine the stage for places to put their pryrotechnic corn. After half an hour of this examination, they started to setup. The ears of corn are first shucked, to reveal their golden beauty. Then, while two of the members of the band set up tripods, the others drill out the middle of the ears and pack them with fireworks. The tripods used are the type photographers use: the three legs meet about a foot off the ground, and from there up it's just one pole, about 5 feet tall in all.
The corn-loaded tripods are placed in random locations around the stage, and then the band sets up their equipment. (Note: this seems backwards to me too.) All this takes about an hour--they're fairly efficient. A total of 12 ears were sacrificed for the good of music at this particular performance. Right before the show begins, fuses of all different sorts are attached to each of the pyroears, and the fuses are merged together at one spot, center stage.
After being introduced, the first thing that Smudge does is light the fuse, and then he starts to sing. Since the fuses are all different, there's no telling which one is going to burn fastest, and which ear is going to explode first. After about two minutes, the first ear went: Amazing! Corn was everywhere! A huge ol' chunk of it put a BIG dent in one of Sam's symbols, and at least three girls in the front row got it down their shirts. As the band played, more and more corn exploded, almost ending right as T.E.C.G. were finishing their third song. (It was at this time the fire marshall left.) Half way through the fourth song BOOM! Everyone had forgotten about this last ear--it was hanging from the ceiling, about 8 feet off the stage. Corn-o-rama! Cornfest '96! Corn-a-palloza! (Compliments to Golden who performed an amazing upside-down hanging/balancing/juggling act to get it there.) I was laughing so hard at everyone who was scared by the blast that I didn't notice a piece had lodged in my right ear...After clearing the debris, I then noticed something else: another piece had lodged under Golden's A string, and he had to move up an octave to keep playing! The first set was as follows:
(cover of Henrix's) Voodo Chile
Wigwam
Bandsaw
The Suspense
(their "version" of) Holiday in Cambodia
Comfortably Corn
I didn't catch the second set, thanks to the long line in the emergency room of the nearby Metropolitan Hospital. (The corn in the ear, remember?) Well, I'll have to catch them the next time they come around, which will be Wednesday, 12 June 1996, according to Smudge. If you missed them on the 4th, don't miss them in June!
I promise to make their next gig, and sit further in the back, so that I can get interviews from all the guys (and the gal) after the show, without bleeding all over them. I, like everybody else, really wanted to talk to Thong about the bananna incident... yes, yes, that was 1992, but when's the last time you read a good interview about it? NEVER, because there hasn't been one...anyway, check this spot again in mid-June and maybe I'll have a little bananna-treat for you all.
Overall, I'd give the show a 9.5: it's certainly the most inventive act I've seen all year, but 0.5 off for not paying my medical bill. Corn!
