BROOKLYN, NY – Mentally, I was prepared for The Bloody Beetroots at Warsaw in Greenpoint, Broooklyn, however physically I was not. My friends warned me prior to the show that it may get a bit loud, so when I arrived at the small venue to see 11 gigantic speakers by either side of the stage, I felt that my earplugs would not be of much use that night. Spoiler: they weren’t.
The Bloody Beetroots is an electro/techno-punk rock music group formed by Italian Robert Rifo who professionally goes by the name Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo. He along with his band-mates perform in masks and they’ve somehow managed to remain relatively anonymous in terms of being photographed without something covering their faces; very Daft Punk-esque. What makes this group so unique (and why I was excited to cover the show) is their musical melding of techno and punk. Their style makes you want to fist pump and jump, while simultaneously banging your head against the wall and punching someone in the face. This mix of dance and punk is something truly ingenious.
They are touring in conjunction with the release of their latest album The Great Electronic Swindle and this show was by far the craziest concert I’ve ever attended. From the lighting effects, to the mosh pits, to the beautifully deafening acoustics and to the musicians themselves it was was sensory overload and… now, pardon my language … shit was straight up nuts.
First off, these guys came on stage to seizure inducing flashing lights and a momentous, booming guitar with techno sounds blasting from the gigantic speaker setup. It was hard to see, let alone try to photograph what was happening in front of me. From the get go they were jumping around the stage and doing kick splits int he air like gymnasts, all while either playing a guitar or singing. Their stage presence was non-stop action, with constant movement and energetic activity that last the duration of the show. I’ve never been to a concert where the artists were so active on stage. I even broke sweat.
Rifo, on several occasions, went right into the middle of the crowd for select songs and performed in the midst of the sweaty, crazy, unrelenting mosh-pits. Somehow, he wasn’t torn apart, even though the crowd took their insanity level up a notch every time he would venture to join them. It was really awesome seeing an artist make the audience a part of the show the way he did.
One observation I made on a musical note was the heavy use of piano in many of the songs, which Rifo played. It only added to the uniqueness of their style, because in the middle of a crazy guitar shred and pulsating electro beats you’d hear a classical piano being played beautifully. It should be pointed out that it wasn’t a keyboard, but an actual piano. That nuance somehow made kicked up the artistry of the show another notch.
I can go on and on about all the little details from this show that made it so great and wild, but I think I summed up all of the best parts. I came, I saw, I seizured. Check out The Bloody Beetroots when they come to your neck of the woods, cause after they’re done, there may be no woods left standing.
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