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Green Jellÿ Huffs and Puffs back to Buffalo

Contributed by: buffalo.com/yourhub Andrew Blake on 7/8/2008

Somewhere after the giant foam head of Barney Rubble finished smoking a mock joint on the stage at Club Infinity, I contemplated whether or not I could be doing anything better with my life at that very moment.

Unfortunately, the show in front of me was moving too fast to come to a proper conclusion. Before I could settle on whether or not I was amused or baffled, there was a superhero adorned in a papier-mâché vest of feces .

At times like these, it's often best to go with the flow.

When Green Jellÿ formed in Kenmore, NY in the early '80s, no one thought anything would become of the group, let alone heavy MTV airplay a decade later or appearances on big name movie soundtracks and video games. Seventeen years since a few slackers from Ken-West picked up their instruments, a revived formation of the band, consisting of founding member and singer Bill Manspeaker and a slew of others, are still making music together under the old name. Manspeaker brought his group back to Western New York last week, the first hometown show in years, for a packed show at Club Infinity.

Being the first local show in ages, Manspeaker and his band didn't disappoint the hundreds that crammed into club on Thursday. The band delivered over two hours of sophomoric potty jokes and skits (and music, of course), which as entertaining as it was, didn't exactly demonstrate that the band has come along way since regularly packing The Continental on Franklin street. Then again, if it isn't broke, don't fix it.

The band played over half of the tunes from their 1993 breakthrough Cereal Killer Soundtrack, including "Electric Harley House (Of Love)" and "Obey the Cowgod," with each song showcasing props and costumes bordering on ingenious and pathetic, while albeit grossly entertaining.

After 90 minutes of trashing the stage with oversized chicken heads and battle axes, Manspeaker stripped out of his pants and began pilfering beers from those in the front row, which he promptly holstered snuggly in his underpants. Drenched in overpriced Blue, Manspeaker jokingly warned the crowd, many too young to even remember the days when their "Three Little Pigs" video dominated MTV, that "This is what happens if you don't go to school."

When Green Jellÿ did launch into their big hit, Manspeaker invited the crowd onto the stage, which was mobbed with nearly one hundred additional bodies before even the second verse of the song came around.

The show was over two hours of goofy, dirty, rock and roll fun, something that the Buffalo scene hasn't seen since, well, the last time Green Jellÿ came around. And then, just as quickly as Manspeaker tore into each song, he took the stage for another encore, and seamlessly transformed himself into a salesman; he hawked $20 DVDs from the stage, and for nearly fifteen minutes barked out sales pitches. When the product was gone, that was it, and the show fizzled in perhaps the most anticlimactic conclusion ever.

At least Manspeaker knows that Buffalo hasn't forgotten Green Jellÿ. As cheesy as it is, it's one gimmick that still clearly sells.


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buffalo.com/yourhub Andrew Blake has posted 11 stories and 0 comments since joining on 11/27/2007. buffalo.com/yourhub Andrew Blake 's average story rating is 4.
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