Live: Monotonix Invade Brooklyn, Possibly For The Last Time
From our first delightful encounter with Israeli cock-rockers Monotonix, in a trashy Texas dirtpit at a 2008 party called Fuck by Fuck You, we knew they were special. It was there that we first witnessed frontman Ami Shalev's maniacal hijinks and first saw drummer Haggai Fershtman hoisted up into the air by the crowd, drum kit and all. When they came to New York the following month, it was hard not to enjoy the gaping mouths of unsuspecting Monotonix virgins at Union Hall, as Shalev did things like pretend-fellate himself with an elephant statue atop the bar, pour wax down his pants (also atop the bar), toss around the contents of the ice machine, and take a flying leap into a trash can. A week or so later, we reveled in their "hairy moonshot assclusive" at the Cake Shop, where Shalev tossed around drinks, dumped a trash can on Fershtman's head (a signature Monotonix move), and slid the microphone between his butt cheeks. The next week we even took a tri-state road trip to Princeton University, to watch them grope co-eds and adjust bow ties.
Chaos, as usual. Pics by Rebecca.
By summers' end, they were back in town, this time in Bushwick, crowd-surfing in a trash can. For the Panache CMJ showcase that October, they teamed up with Japan's DMBQ for a super-sized four-person/two-drum-kit crowd-surf extravaganza (there was blood after this one). At Europa in 2009, Shalev hung from the rafters and joined Fershtman for some two-man somersaults. By this time, word of their live show had spread, and thousands turned out to experience "The Full-Tilt, Half-Naked Joys of Israeli Cock Rockers Monotonix" at the Voice's own Siren Festival.
But after a couple years of acrobatic, occasionally pyrotechnic shows like these, it's not a surprise that they'd need "an extended break," though they cite impending babies and other family stuff as their reason that their current U.S. tour will be their last for quite a while. Saturday night's show in a Kent Avenue warehouse was the only New York City stop during this extended farewell -- it was only right that we be there to witness it.
Shalev likes to put things down his pants during shows, and so does Andy Animal of the Stalkers, pictured here. This is what you call good curating. 
Someone brought this sweet bearskin rug 
Federation X 
Pujol, a garage-rock outfit from Tenessee, seems to have a large following of young women 
This guy is clearly also a Pujol fan 
Thing were pretty rowdy by this point in the show 
Before Monotonix' much-anticipated set, this girl got booed off the stage while doing a soliloquy in Italian, possibly about this pear 
Just after midnight, Monotonix came on, and so did lots of cameras 
Guitarist Yonatan Gat, who's well accustomed to playing in the middle of suffocating crowds 
Ami doing a crowd-stand 
They're back, and hairier than ever 
More chaos 
Ami, characteristically bouncing off the walls 
Monotonix perform on the bar more often than on the stage 
The old crowd-surf drumming trick 
Fans were climbing around, too 
Fershtman favors short shorts 
See you in a few?
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