Be Your Own Pet's self-titled debut remains one of the best new albums I've heard this year; it's an album that is still seeing high rotation in my stereo. When I discovered that not only was this gang of teenage punks coming to Detroit, but that they would be playing Detroit on the day that their album hit the streets, I was quite excited. I was really looking forward to hearing how the energy of the album translated to the stage. I didn't realize what was coming.
Painfully Bad Opening Acts
The first act was the Terrible Twos. They came out fast and frenzied and hammered through a set. Although the keyboards sounded great, the remainder of the band sounded as if they had just received some news that a close friend had betrayed them, and rather than face legal repercussions for beating up said friend, they decided to release their aggression by savagely abusing their instruments.
Next up was Whirlwind Heat. Let me sum up their set with two words: comically bad. It was sloppy and noisy, accented by bad rapping and feedback that may or may not have been intentional. The underage members of the crowd at this all-ages show gathered by the stage, but everyone who was of age was sitting at the bar in the opposite end of the club, just waiting for them to finish.
Be Your Own Pet Is Great! (for a few minutes, anyway...)
Be Your Own Pet's setup seemed very small; the drum kit was tiny, and their equipment did not take up much of the stage. When they took the stage and launched into their first song, "Thresher's Flail", it was obvious that they needed all of that open space in order to move.
Despite their age and relative inexperience, they played like pros. Vocalist Jemina Pearl flailed and thrashed about like a madwoman, and the guitarist did a backflip off the stage. It was fast and furious as they blasted through two more songs. I was really getting into their energy.
Then, everything went horribly wrong.
"How many more songs do we have to play?"
As the drummer started another song, Pearl cut him off with a curt "That's bulls**t." Then, looking offstage, she spit on the ground and said into the microphone, "how many more songs do we have to play?"
It became very obvious that she didn't want to be there. As a result, neither did the crowd.
Although the rest of the set had energy, I was thoroughly disgusted at her by that point. She then tried to twice make herself throw up on the stage (how punk rock!), and acted like a spoiled brat. I can safely say we were all turned off by this teenage diva who seemed to have suddenly decided she was too good to be there.
Finally, she jumped on the guitarist and dragged him into the crowd. Then she charged into the crowd, pushing a bit, her slight frame not having enough momentum to incite anything other than further disgust. She climbed back on stage and stormed off, as the drummer made crybaby motions at her. And that was it. The houselights came up, and we left.
From beginning to end, Be Your Own Pet played less than 25 minutes, and that was more than enough. In the early days of punk, bands may have been able to make a name for themselves by acting this way, but this is now, and nobody deserves to pay money to a bunch of brats to get on stage and show disdain at their fans.
It's obvious that, even though they are a very talented band with a great album, these kids have a lot of growing up to do before they'll be worth watching live. They should do it fast, before they alienate any fans they may have left.
