Live: Psychostick and Ideamen in Indy

It’s been three years since Psychostick released their magically awesome fourth record- IV: Revenge of The Vengeance and while they have been working on album no. 5, they decided to take a break from recording and hit the road for a small run of dates, duly named the “Old Lady In a Ball Pit Tour” and they’ve taken Ideamen out on the road with them. The tour started in Indianapolis’ Emerson Theater and, after a few locals opened up- including a fun set from Verbal Sludge, who had strong Hollywood Undead feel- Ideamen took the stage. Ideamen are completely different from Psychostick. With Dog Fashion Disco’s Tim Swanson on keyboards, they’re much more avante garde than straight metal and they’re a boatload of intensity to watch live. Dancing around the stage, the band was having fun from start to finish and, it was a rare opportunity for Indianapolis fans to witness as the band doesn’t venture outside Chicago much anymore. Not long after they finished up, Psychostick took the stage for a set that had everything- I mean everything. Before the band started in on the set, they did a quick soundcheck that included a short rendition of Slayer’s “Raining Blood” on KAZOOS (Psychostick brand, of course)! Their set saw them bring out the famous Psychostick giant taco during “Do You Want a Taco?;” They also threw socks into the crowd during “Dogs Like Socks,” brought out sunglasses and paper airplanes for their “Danger Zone” cover and even had their sombrero with them for “Sombrero Prophecy,” which didn’t last long in the pit. At three points in the show, the band stopped and let fans pick the next song they would play- by way of drawing a piece of paper out of a cup that had a song written on it- “Bill Nye the Science Guy/Reading Rainbow/Doom,” “Don’t Eat My Food” and “Caffeine” were the three fan choice songs and went down perfectly. Ending the show was a short metal and kazoo cover of “Tequila” but when the crowd yelled “Tequila!,” singer Rawrb said “Nope! Beer,” which led to the band’s infamous hit and then closed with “So Heavy.” After this, the band went to the merch table and signed autographs, took pictures and hung out with fans for the rest of the night. -Reggie Edwards \"Click