Who the hell are PPL MVR and where did they come from? All gimmickry and showmanship aside, their music is pretty fucking awesome. They are a metal version of one of my favorite, new bands, Fartbarf and the first time I saw them at the Sunset Strip Music Festival I was skeptical but intrigued. No one knows who they are or why Atlantic Records signed them to a record deal with no established presence or fan base to speak of. One thing is clear- Someone is banking on them and sinking a lot of money into making sure that people are exposed to this band of yeti like creatures with metal guitars and vocoder vocals.
PPL MVR were the “surprise guest” at The Electric Dusk Drive In Theater for a screening of one of my favorite movies, This is Spinal Tap. This was yet another interesting special interest event that was a part of the diverse, 30 Days in LA by Red Bull. It was a beautiful night and setting in Downtown L.A. I set up a beach chair on the astro turf in front of the movie screen. Red Bull promised a special performance at an intermission and part way through the first half of the movie, one of the strange, ancient creatures of PPL MVR appeared in the lot behind the covered stage off to the side of the movie screen. Completely in character, the creature was being herded by a group of mere mortal actors, trying to corral the mysterious beast back behind the curtain.
The movie paused halfway through and the curtain came down off the stage to reveal these weirdo’s and their show began. They are a fun band. I don’t know if they need their hot costumes and gimmicks to sell the music which is just fine on it’s own but I can’t say that I wasn’t entertained by it all. The “lead singer “who has a wireless mic and effects powered by a human keyboardist set just to the side of the drummer, is definitely a showman. He jumped off the stage, guitar in hand, and menacingly got in the faces of the audience members while singing his ancient song. In the spirit of Spinal Tap, the band had a Stonehenge replica set up behind them. They plowed through a short set and just like that, the show was over and the movie resumed.
It was an interesting night that definitely raised a lot more questions than it answered about PPL MVR but something tells me that it’s all part of a greater marketing plan that was born before anyone even knew that this band existed.
Review and Photos by Danny Baraz
5 thoughts on “PPL MVR surprise performance at Red Bull’s screening of Spinal Tap”
I was going to say one of them is Dave Pino from Damone, Powerman 5000, and Andrew WK, but there he is sans yeti costume. So you know, he’s there doing something.
Here’s a direct link to the image if this board doesn’t accept IMG
http://i450.photobucket.com/albums/qq221/bedmac/Misc/IMG_5218.jpg
Sorry about that! My first post didn’t work. That’s an image of them corralling one of the critters to the stage as you mention in the article. I’ve also posted a video of their first song on Youtube Hopefully this will work this time…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3osr_YYEV1A&list=UUlOtX_97ZWd5NMt9oo4cUxA
Nice! That was a pretty hilarious moment in the middle of watching Spinal Tap. Timing couldn’t have been better. So, who are these guys? I think Spike is hot on a trail
I have no idea who they are…we asked the same question since we heard this was only their fourth performance and they were obviously pretty tight already. Definitely it included “Pino” because the other keeper said it was Pino (the guy talking to me may have been Pino’s brother? cousin?). It was great because I asked him about the band and he went on about the “it was hard to find and catch these critters” stuff. I heard something about a possible December 4 performance but no idea where. I had to laugh about the article because I was one of the guys who had the lead singer get in my face…twice. It was all in good fun, though. We definitely want to see these guys again.