Under Culture Looms Large at Otto's Shrunken Head

Under Culture delivered a roaring set of it's hard driving brand of rock music in front of its growing fan base on Sunday night at Otto's Shrunken Head on the outskirts of Manhattan's East Village. Located near the Con Ed site on Manhattan's East River, the energy was buzzing when Under Culture took the stage at a little past 7:00 pm to applause by its fans. The band received a warm introduction by one of the legends of the local Manhattan club scene, Frank Wood, who books Otto's acts and MC's wind down Sundays at Otto's. The night started off with an unusual twist, as prior to the show, the band that was to follow Under Culture, which was on an east coast tour, lugged its entire collection of instruments and equipment, including a full drum kit, into Otto's main show room and plunked their equipment onto the couches that Under Culture's fans were going to sit on. After a brief back and forth between the bands, Frank appeared and the other band's equipment, instruments (and band), was gone. As Frank put it, "drums don't buy drinks".

Energized by the hub bub, and possibly drawing from the power plant nearby, Mike Turk set the room on fire, constantly dancing off the stage and onto the main floor to serenade our fans. Jon Popin, with a seemingly extra dose of amperage, took a stage dive onto the main floor at the end of the bands punk-influenced song, Rich Mans Quandary. Oren Bayone tried to contain the energy he was filled with, by turning away from the main floor for a time, but he couldn't be restrained, whipping around and jumping up and down with a crazed enthusiasm. Neither of Ryan Metosky's six string nor keyboard probably needed to be plugged in based on the juice he was putting out. Finally, Andres Marin pounded the drums with an intensity that fueled everybody in the room. The show was great and Under Culture's stayed afterward to give out thank you's and hugs to each and every one of its fans for coming out. We will see you next at Silvana on April 29.

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