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The story behind my introduction to Shiny Toy Guns isn’t a staggering one, nor is it earth-shattering or captivating. I stumbled across them while browsing MySpace like the blog addict that I am and not-so-quickly fell in musical lust with Le Disko – the in-your-face, blatantly sexual single pumped up with techno keyboard beats and some rather heavily driving drums. Months later, Ashley shows up at my house with a Shiny Toy Guns button pinned very coquettishly on her bag and raving about this band from LA that opened the Finger Eleven show the night before. Shortly thereafter, I found their CD while browsing through the local used disc store, bought it, listened to it track-for-track twice in a row and rediscovered why I fell in lust with them in the first place.
Live, this band is something else. The club floor is packed by the time the band takes the stage, and already there is screaming and clapping and absolute wonder at what is about to happen. Aided by funky lighting effects that give the venue an alternative rock disco feel, Shiny Toy Guns manages to deliver a show that is gripping and fun and leaves the crowd more-or-less in love with the band.
Their tracks are highly danceable, and on more than one occasion couples and groups (and even those brave enough to attend a show single) could be seen gyrating and jumping and grinding to the music. The band also ensures that all of its members are seen – their state is set up along the front of the stage, with the drum kit taking up one quarter of the right side, the keyboards the left and finally the vocalists and guitarists dead center. This rather unorthodox setting allows for full band communication, both with each other and with the audience as well – and it’s probably the first time I have even seen a drummer drive the audience into a clapping frenzy by drumming on the nearest available mic-stand.
The highlight of this show, however good the band itself was, was the call (more like demand) for an encore by the crowd. There was no chant of “En-core! En-core! En-core” but one genius group of people, after tiring of all the random screaming and clapping, started up a group clap, which was very quickly taken up by the group next to them and very quickly picked up by the packed house. This was of course followed by the general “slow clap” wave and gathering of speed and eventually lead to a climax of screaming, clapping and stomping so loud that the entire club vibrated with the thrum and love of the fans. The band, naturally enough, returned to the stage and graced their adoring public with two more songs – both fast moving and sweaty, giving flow to yet another round of grinding and jumping and the pure bliss that comes with rocking out.
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