Robotic Metal Band Headlines Passover Celebration at Thee Parkside
By Dave Pehling
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- One of SF's most compelling combinations of furious metal and snarky, self-deprecating humor, mechanical metal outfit Captured! By Robots headlines a Passover celebration at Thee Parkside Saturday night.
Founder JBOT (aka musician Jay Vance, who had played in the ska-punk groups the Blue Meanies and Skankin' Pickles) came up with the idea for Captured! By Robots after he got sick of dealing with his human bandmates in 1997. However, after building his new crew of collaborators -- the percussive pair of androids DRMBOT 0110, and AUTOMATOM and guitar/bass robot GTRBOT666 -- JBOT was enslaved by his creations.
Forced to front the band in chains, JBOT has been dragged across the U.S. on multiple tours featuring the band berating the singer between raging death metal songs and into the studio to record several albums of the group's apocalyptic death metal laced with the bots' misanthropic sense of humor. While the line-up of the robot musicians would shift of the two decades in operation -- the loving Ape Which Hath No Name and the Headless Hornsman both were part of the show for a time -- JBOT and company have grown to become a cult attraction with its collision of comedy, metal and performance art.
While the band's sole human member would be taking a break from C!BR in 2015 to concentrate on another project -- the revived Teddy Bear Orchestra -- a couple of years later JBOT returned to his earlier group with a decidedly more political stance inspired by the Trump presidency and humanity's impending doom from the climate crisis. Captured! By Robots celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2017 with a national tour playing songs from the band's latest and arguably darkest album Endless Circle of Bull--t along with classic tunes from throughout its career.
For this special Passover-themed show the Last Schmaltz (aka The Matzos Mash) at Thee Parkside presented by RWS and Subliminal SF, C!BR will be joined by self-described Oakland "Yidcore" band Jewdriver. First formed by a group of East Bay punks in the '90s to ridicule Nazi hardcore group Skrewdriver, the savage parody outfit takes the notorious white nationalist band's racist tunes and subverts them with strictly Jewish lyrical themes and song titles like "Hail the Jew Gong (For Chuck Barris)" and "Our Blame Is Goyim Glee." Hysterical one-man groove tornado and former Bay Area resident Chaki the Funk Wizard brings his mix of deranged funk and punk covers and unhinged original songs to open the Saturday night show. Local comedic illusionist duo Matt & Paul Magic also appear. The bar will serving Passover and Easter-themed drink specials to go along with additional holiday fun and surprises.
The Last Schmaltz with Captured! By Robots
Saturday, April 16, 9 p.m., $13-$15
Thee Parkside
