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Alien Ant Farm: Chubby Chimp Criminals

The idiots savant of nu-metal.
06 februari 2002, 013, Tilburg (NL)

Tekst: Tessa Halm

Publicatiedatum: 07 februari 2002

After having seen a few of their video-clips on MTV, you can't be blamed for getting the impression the guys from Alien Ant Farm are just a bunch of post-pubescent guys having a laugh and enjoying their 15 minutes of fame. However, seeing the band play a live-gig does put these preconceived notions into a different light. It seems the real clown of the band is bass-player, Tye Zamora. He bends, jumps, wriggles, slides and dances around the stage, all the while pulling funny faces to the audience and at the same time miming all the words to the songs. What's even more amazing is that this guy is actually a rather chubby little fellow. This becomes horrifyingly clear at the end of the show, when he pulls up his t-shirt to show his massive girth and then proceeds to pull down his pants to also grant us a view of his bum. In the meantime, singer Dryden Mitchell keeps everybody wondering whether his shyness and his gratefulness towards the audience (repeating "Thank you for being so nice to us" after each and every song) is genuine or whether he's having everybody on. Although, considering the rest of his performance, it has got to be a pose. Mitchell's appearance and behaviour seem to have more in common with those of a regular chimpanzee than an actual human being. Fortunately his voice makes up for all of his foolishness. He can really sing and, even more amazingly, he can keep excellent tune while prancing around the stage doing his chimp-imitation.
It has to be said, Alien Ant Farm does not make exceptional records. Sure, the music sounds good and the lyrics aren't too bad, but discussing Alien Ant Farm is not the same as speaking about a band with superstar-potential. And this is exactly the reason why they can get away with their live-act. Nice music and very good vocals spiced up by their weirdness on stage. Of course the highlight of the evening has to be their cover of Michael Jackson's 'Smooth Criminal'. The song wasn't meant as a metal version, but it sure as hell sounds good! This is one of those covers just about everyone has to love. Alien Ant Farm manages to spice up the song even a bit more during their live version and 'Smooth Criminal' becomes an even harder criminal. It is, however, a true shame that the band decides to change their very best song, 'Wish' off their second album 'ANTthology', into a disco-song.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/live/alien-ant-farm/alien-ant-farm-chubby-chimp-criminals/1290/
Meer Alien Ant Farm op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/alien-ant-farm