Concert Reviews

Mindless Self Indulgence at The Phoenix – April 1, 2014

Photographs by Katrina Wong Shue

When I was a high school student, I loved Mindless Self Indulgence. I found their music hilarious, the beats catchy, and what they stood for infectious. Naturally, a band of that nature seemed fairly immature to me and I somewhat grew out of them as I got older. Being given the chance to review their Toronto show, I reflected on the songs I used to listen to during my spare periods on the soccer field outside, ones that included adorable names like Bitches, Stupid MF and Bullshit. I remembered the fun I had. In preparation for the concert, I went back to their albums I owned and found something I never noticed before but have only noticed now that I am an adult: Their music is not random, but instead highly satirical. With their latest album called How I Learned To Stop Giving A Shit And Love Mindless Self Indulgence, perhaps it was time I learned to stop taking things so seriously; if not just for one night.

The band come on stage fairly close to when they are supposed to, and their show was as quick as their entrance. It wasn’t too short, but it zoomed past because of how much fun it was. Between virtually every song, lead singer Little Jimmy Urine (thankfully born as James Euringer) would come up with hilarious banter. Some of it seemed planned, but it was impossible for all of it to have been. He reacted quickly and with wit to the audience (as he demeaned an audience member for singing a line too early, claiming he messed up the song for everyone else, for instance). He made fun of our Canadian bills by claiming that they were plastic and fake, yet with 40 dollars worth of these same bills he literally had an audience member pay him to perform an a cappella version of Method Man’s song Bring The Pain. Yes, Little Jimmy Urine was a mythical creature that pranced on stage, belittled us, worshiped himself (hence mindless self indulgence) and left like a creature in the night.

It’s worth noting that Urine bashes virtually everyone but himself during the show, and yet is band mates were the opposite and were self demeaning. As I talked to Steve, Righ? and he signed a ticket, he warned us that these tickets “will be worth nothing”. I complimented Lyn-Z and expressed my jealousy of her bass guitar, wishing that I could afford such a wonderful model, and she replied “Are you sure you can’t?”, insinuating that the bass guitar was actually cheap and trashy. The joke here is that everyone, according to MSI, sucks, and Little Jimmy Urine sucks even more so because he is a pinkly clad rendition of everything he bashes ironically. He calls his audience ugly, stupid and annoying, but he does so with love. At an MSI concert, one is put down so they can just forget about their burdens, their standards and their cares and just have brainless fun instead.

The band members got to choose a song each night each, resulting in four songs that were randomized apart from the standard set list (compiled solely of fast paced and appropriate fan favorites; a job well done). These were good examples of showing just how talented the band is deep down, as they reacted to these last minute decisions instantly and at ease. Urine reacted to Righ?’s decision to play Keepin Up With The Kids initially with worry, but he pulled off the fast paced lyrics effortlessly. The interesting thing is that this band can easily be overlooked talentless because everything they do is done relaxed (sans Urine’s crazy on stage antics). Lyn-Z did her signature back bending movie at random a few times, and it doesn’t seem like she even had to think about doing it. Kitty seemed to be having way too much fun to have even gotten her rhythms down correctly, yet she didn’t miss a single beat. Righ? almost seemed like a drunken audience member that made their way onto the stage and pretended to be in the band, yet his guitar playing countered his slurs by being exactly what each song asked from him.

As for Urine’s shenanigans, of which are easily too many to mention, we were shown everything from his pink-and-tight briefs, him video taping the crowd and then himself, him having a fist fight with the air, a dozen of pretty crazy microphone tossing tricks (all of which seemed to land somehow; even Urine expressed amazement as he looked off stage to a possible friend of his and told him he pulled off one of his tricks twice), and even an episode where he ran off stage to take one of his own band’s shirts from the merchandise table. He was the jester that made fun of everyone and made a fool of himself, but his unpredictable nature, huge ego (possibly fake or real; it’s hard to tell), large bursts of energy and peculiar talent made him an incredible front man. For a man in the middle of his 40’s, I am embarrassed to not be as alive as he is.

With a dance and mosh happy crowd, a slew of terrific songs (including 1989, Straight to Video, Animal and other catchy tracks) and a stage presence that can be felt from the moon, Mindless Self Indulgence were fun but not stupid. They were ridiculous but serious about being so. They were dressed up but they were raw. I have reconsidered listening to their discography not just to remember the songs I played on repeat in my youth but to remember the amount of fun I had at The Phoenix. If anything, I can play these songs again to remind myself that it is essential to see this band live. In fact, even if their music is not your cup of tea, they are still worth seeing live, as it is impossible to be bored by this band. It may be impossible to start caring again and to stop liking Mindless Self Indulgence after one of their concerts.

Thanks to Live Nation Ontario for media access.

About author

Former Film Editor & Music Writer at Live in Limbo. Co-host of the Capsule Podcast. A Greek/South African film enthusiast. He has recently earned a BFA honours degree in Cinema Studies at York University. He is also heavily into music, as he can play a number of instruments and was even in a few bands. He writes about both films and music constantly. You should follow him on Twitter @Andreasbabs.