"I don't know anyone who is bummed out about having babies on the bus," says singer/guitarist Nils Frykdahl, who until recently also had his 5-month-old daughter in tow. Also, violinist and vocalist Carla Kihlstedt is expecting her own child soon, courtesy of her boyfriend, SGM drummer Matthias Bossi. It's a family affair, as bassist Dan Rathbun and his wife, Nieves (who sells homemade skin care products at the band's merch table), have brought along their 3-month-old son, Jasper. In contrast to the chaotic atmosphere onstage, the bus remains comparatively serene. With the band decked out in full costumes and makeup and playing an assortment of homemade instruments, the stage show is as much a visual spectacle as it is an auditory cluster bomb: It's Mr. Conceived in 1999, the Oakland-based band has built a following around its intricate and often jarring mix of experimental rock and theatrical stage presence. "That's the coolest fucking bus in the history of buses!" an Asian hipster dude in a pink shirt confirms as he passes.īesides, it wouldn't be like Sleepytime Gorilla Museum to tour in something as blasé as a van. Four years ago, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum purchased one of their decommissioned buses, one that had put in decades of service to Costa Rica and back. It's not that well-known on our side of the Rockies, but the West Coast is home to the Green Tortoise bus line, a hippie Greyhound sort of operation that stops for cookouts instead of fast food and can take passengers down past Mexico or up into Alaska. Those who check out the band's show at the Longhorn Saloon in Fort Worth on Saturday will understand the fuss. These are pedestrians who don't blink when they see Gene Simmons selling hot dogs on the street. So it's only proper that once the band pulls up to New York's Bowery Ballroom, the usually stoic NYC passersby stop, point and stare. A band as bizarre, diverse and complicated as Sleepytime Gorilla Museum couldn't be expected to travel in any normal vehicle.
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