S.T.U.N., an acronym for Scream Towards the Uprising of Nonconformity, sprouted from Los Angeles with singer Christiane J, guitarist Neil Spies, bassist Nick S. and drummer Bobby Alt. Known for its intense live shows, D.C. got a taste of its performance as the band opened for the "anti-Christ" himself, Marilyn Manson, at the 9:30 club on Saturday.
S.T.U.N.'s debut album "Evolution of Energy" meant a lot of things to Christiane J, the "avant-garde communicator."
"What it means to me at this particular moment and time? I just got off stage, so I mean, just to live in the moment and be free," said Christiane J. "We just spent half an hour of our day completely free, playing music."
S.T.U.N. started its set with the one-minute thrasher "Illegal Operations," followed by "Here Comes the Underground," "Movement," "Boredom," "Rebellion Grow," "Reuters," "Love and Chaos," "Future is Now" and its new single, "Annihilation of Generations," off the band's first album.
S.T.U.N. closed its set with a very impressive Pink Floyd cover of "Another Brick in the Wall." For many, a half-hour set may not be too long, but the energy and movement incorporated during the band's set was priceless.
"Here feel this. Feel this thing on my head," Christiane J. said. There appeared to be a rock-sized bump near the top of his head and he just smiled sheepishly.
Bobby, the drummer, knew exactly what had happened. "The microphone tonight?" he asked, laughingly. "By the way, it was perfectly on. It stopped and you were like dunh dunh dunh dunh dunh," he said as he did a banging motion toward his head. With cuts and bumps on his face, Christiane didn't seem to have a problem with the injuries. On stage anything goes.
With music, S.T.U.N. members feel a bit different. For them, music is their life, their religion. S.T.U.N. tries to avoid the habits of some musicians, who seem to write their music and lyrics specifically to target a particular audience.
"I think music is the most powerful media, and we have to be up there making a difference or, for us, it would be a waste of time," Alt said.
Christiane agreed.
"When we had the band together, we decided we wanted to talk about what was going on in the world and the things, not just about girlfriends, relationships or how the sky looks," he said. "We just thought - 'Let's write a record about what is going on in the state of the world because it seems like we're going to be gone faster than the dinosaurs.'"
Not only is S.T.U.N. passionate about its music, it is equally enthusiastic about the interactions with fans. After every show on the tour so far, the band has stayed to sign every single autograph and take pictures with its fans.
"It's the most important thing - to get to know the people that you're playing music for."
Stage presence, music and fans - what more could a band ask for? It seems S.T.U.N. isn't satisfied yet. Spies, the guitarist, wrote a book of poems to be published in the beginning of next year, and Alt has a solo drum album to be released soon. After finishing the tour with Manson, the band will switch off to opening for Chevelle and then Vendetta Red, and will be headlining in the beginning of 2004. S.T.U.N. will return to D.C. with Vendetta Red at The Black Cat on Nov. 24.
