Going into this project, Man Man was one of the bands I was most excited to see on the line-up of 50/50 bands. As I was attempting to find the venue, that excitement quickly wore off. It was an hour and 10 minute subway ride from my apartment to the stop I was supposed to use, and along the way I had to make a couple of transfers. In the last car I got on, three or four stops before I had to go back above ground, some breakdancers took up residence and did tricks directly in front of my face; I was pretty sure one of them was going to kick me in the head. But, the bright side: they were good, and their music was an epic remix of "I'm Blue (Da Ba Di)" that I hadn't heard in years. Maybe the night was going to be okay after all, I decided.

So I got out of the subway and was all turned around. I don't know downtown very well, and I had no idea which way I was supposed to go because I'd only glanced at the directions once. The NYPD officer outside the station was nice enough to give me directions -- but he was wrong, so I walked 10 minutes in the wrong direction. If I weren't sick, it wouldn't be an issue, but by the time I figured it out and started heading back the other direction (a 25 minute walk the other way) I was having some trouble breathing, so I was not pleased. On the way, when I was already sure I knew where I was going this time, a very seriously kind man stopped me -- maybe I looked distraught, who knows, or maybe he was just kindly making conversation -- and asked if I was going to Man Man, pointed in the direction I was walking, and said, "don't worry, young lady, you'll hear the music. You'll just hear the music." Brightened by how nice he was, I made the executive decision to have a good night. From there on out, I did.

I found the amphitheatre easily once I heard the music being played during soundcheck. I love outdoor shows -- especially ones near the water, like South Street Seaport (which I saw when I walked the wrong direction, which was my tip-off) -- and this venue was as perfect as the rest of them on a gorgeous day by the river.

The instruments were already on stage and they were just a small indication of what was to come: there were trumpets, saxophones, xylophones, guitars, keyboards, synths, and even an appropriated and turned upside-down fire extinguisher that would later be used as percussion. All of the drums and keyboards were covered in some sort of neon zebra print, which was very fitting.

When the band took the stage, they were wearing all white outfits and face paint, and they walked on to an uproar from the crowd standing in front of the stage, who were very obviously there expressly because Man Man was playing and not just because it was a free show. Man Man was everything I'd heard they would be and more -- crazy high energy, eclectic gypsy jazz rock, vaudeville and over-the-top, and fun as hell. Honus Honus, frontman Ryan Kattner's pseudonym, was insane the whole night. He stood on instruments, reached for the crowd, jerked his body in time with the music, yelled as loudly as he could, and gave us his trademark rough and sometimes off-key growling voice with more enthusiasm than I ever really see on a stage.

The rest of the band kept up with him, though, which is not usually my experience. They were all just as crazy -- and with pseudonyms like Pow Pow, Alejandro "Cougar" Borg (which is a full-name pseudonym for Russell Higbee), Organ, Freeman, Chang Wang, and Jazz Camel, who would expect anything else? Their stage antics and unusual facial expressions and talent for playing at least three instruments each per song was what kept the crowd jumping and moshing the entire way through the set. An A+ performance from a Philadelphia-based band. Moments like those, I couldn't be happier to be from Pennsylvania.