Serious fun and seriously good music delivered by seriously insane individuals with a serious infatuation with a animated TV legend.
Opening band Steaksauce Mustache describes their music as “chaotic partycore” and they’ve been compared to known artists such as Andrew W.K. who put everything they’ve got and more into their performance. These descriptions are true, to the point where the band polarized the audience to such an extreme where half of the audience was having the time of their lives and the other half shuffling further and further away from the completely unanticipated insanity unfolding in front of their eyes.
Steaksauce Mustache performed with a hard, punk rock speed and ferocity. Even the band’s cover of Vanessa Carlton’s hit “1000 Miles” raged hard. Okilly Dokilly made a fantastic choice having Steaksauce Mustache as their opener. High octane, full contact hard rock prepared every neighbor in Flan-Durham for Re-Neducation one more time.
Okilly Dokilly is the world’s only “Netal” band, a tongue-in-cheek yet very intense metal band with an image and lyrics based on Ned Flanders from The Simpsons. The band took the stage at Motorco Music Hall and conducted perhaps their last “re-neducation” in Durham, NC as the band announced an indefinite hiatus after this Tourdilly Do ‘22 Tour concludes. The tour was postponed for two years due to COVID-19 cancellations and Okilly Dokilly was clearly excited and thankful to be on stage and performing for a very enthusiastic crowd.
The Motorco Music Hall is a delightfully small venue with no separation between band and audience. Both Okilly Dokilly and Steaksauce Mustache leaned in hard to connect with the audience, often to the point of performing more often off stage and in the laps of audience members than on stage. The absence of physical barriers turned the evening into an insane and amazingly enjoyable collective mosh pit of band members, audience, and more balloons and swimming pool noodles than you’ll see at most 10 year old birthday parties.
Okilly Dokilly pulls a vast majority of their lyrics directly from Ned Flanders quotes. Dressed in their best green sweaters over pink collared shirts, well-manicured mustaches, and round spectacles to match, the band channeled Ned’s worldly wisdom and charm into hard and heavy Netal classics. Opening with “Reneducation” before reminding us to eat our “Vegetables” and how lovely “Purple Drapes” are. “Godspeed Little Doodle” brought the audience to peak intensity for the evening. Being a Simpsons’ nerd wasn’t a requirement to enjoy this show, their sludge/doom/death metal sound was tight and heavy throughout the evening.
Lead vocalist Head Ned is a nearly perfect match to Harry Shearer’s on-television voice performance. The authenticity of Head Ned’s voice combined with the well-rehearsed interplay between band members created a wildly entertaining show. To the band’s credit, their musical ability is as strong as their acting ability. Each band member is named a variation such as Red Ned or Bloodshed Ned. Head Ned clearly was in charge of this collection of schizophrenic personality fragments from deep within Ned Flander’s psyche.
Okilly Dokilly gave a shining example for all other musical niche bands that it is possible to go all-in on the schtick and also deliver a high quality performance.
OKILLY DOKILLY
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