Which is worse: missing a great show you were attempting to review because your name was left off the guest list, or luckily receiving guest passes only to realize after the show they were actually all access tickets? With option two, you get to see Handsome Boy Modeling School. With option one, you don't live with the pain in your stomach of knowing you could have shared martinis and "handsome" adventures with two of music's most pioneering production minds.
At the end of the day, the latter option is ultimately the superior, as Handsome Boy Modeling School, as well as K-OS and the Rondo Brothers, shook the walls of the 9:30 Club Sunday with some of the most varied and original music and spectacle around.
Adorned with matching red leather jackets, pipes and handlebar mustaches, Handsome Boy Modeling School transformed the venue into another branch of their school of handsomeness, mixing music with comedic performances. The duo has had its hands in some of the most astonishingly creative productions of the past decade and a half; Dan "The Automator" Nakamura is responsible for albums like "Deltron 3030," "Dr. Octagonecologyst" and the Gorillaz self-titled debut, while Prince Paul revolutionized hip-hop with De La Soul's "Three Feet High and Rising" and major contributions to albums by Big Daddy Kane, MC Lyte and Boogie Down Productions.
Their past was clearly behind them as Dan and Paul launched full steam into character as Nathaniel Meriwether and Chest Rockwell, owners and operators of Handsome Boy Modeling School for the previously unattractive and undesirable. Between guest performances and bass heavy cuts from their two releases, the duo issued tips on achieving handsomeness, selected members of the audience to join them on stage for handsome makeovers (their first choice, an attendee's already beautiful girlfriend, was replaced due to her double "under 21" hand stamps) and plugged their $60 guaranteed step-by-step handsome program. Handsome.
Because the A-list of contributors to the band's two albums, such as the Beastie Boys, Jack Johnson, Tim Meadows, Mike Patton and DJ Shadow, couldn't make themselves present, a video screen of cartoon caricatures singing over '70s footage of fast cars and beautiful people had to suffice.
The comedy of Handsome Boy was almost upstaged by the energy of K-OS, a Canadian-born rapper, singer and piano player whose name should be known among college students soon if not already. Like a Rastafarian Unabomber, clad in a hoodie, dreadlocks and aviators, K-OS flung himself around stage performing his blend of energetic hip-hop, reggae and funk.
Guzzling an unidentified amber liquid from his water bottle, K-OS smashed cymbals with his bare hands, participated in a jumping contest with his bass player and narrowly avoided injury while treating his keyboard as a jungle gym. After extended acoustic guitar shredding, dual drum solos and an almost mandatory 9:30 Club "Fuck George Bush," K-OS set his existing fans into a frenzy and quickly converted the rest of the audience.
Other performances throughout the night included an opening set by the Rondo Brothers, sometimes a backing band for Handsome Boy, as well as providers of their own form of island-tinged hip-hop. Ukulele, iBook-produced hip-hop beats and electronic steel drums have never fit so well together.
Members of the west coast rap outfit Hieroglyphics added even more names to the bulging appearance list, as members Opio and Domino (who graciously provided with tickets in a time of need) performed between main sets.
By the end of the night, alter egos, guest appearances, two opening sets and video screen cartoon acts still were not enough to capture how varied and unique the music performed was. Anyone wanting to hear the future of hip-hop should find a tape of Sunday's show.
