Concert Review: Har Mar Superstar & The Beautiful Bodies

Sun, 3 Jan 2010 21:31:24 -0600

Let's get one thing straight. This is sexy:
Photo By: Scott Spychalski
I'm not kidding.

Har Mar Superstar is a pudgy, balding 31--year-old, yes. But it's all in the mind. Which is why, when the Minnesota-born R&B rocker purrs sex-laced lyrics while shedding layers of clothing like a sweaty, sequined snake, he believes that every girl in the audience wants to rip off his Paul Frank tighty-whities.

And he's right. I'd take Har Mar over Justin Timberlake any day -- and I know I'm not the only one.

Alicia Solo has my back. The Beautiful Bodies singer professed her love for the hirsuite headliner multiple times between songs during her performance at the Brick last night. (And while we're making comparisons, Solo's spritely chirp reminds me of Dale Bozzio of Missing Persons.) She also introduced a new song, "Lalaliar," which she swore she and the band had only practiced once, but sounded purposefully unpolished. The addition of a megaphone was a nice touch.

I never saw the Beautiful Bodies perform before the band relocated to New York, so I don't know whether she's any different for it, but Solo capitalizes on her on-stage charisma like a pro, soaking up the spotlight with a mix of kittenish charm and teeth-gnashing aggression. I was entranced by her black-and-blond mop that magically fell back into place no matter how violently she whipped her head around.

The last time I saw Har Mar, I was in Chicago and it was my 21st birthday. He had no band and played his hit "Power Lunch" with Beth Ditto's backup vocals on a boom box. He's come a long way, but I was curious whether, seven years later, dude could still sing while executing a breakdance-style shoulder stall. Here's my answer:

Photo By:Scott Spychalski

I know some people came to see Har Mar because they'd been promised the spectacle of some nasty dude who thinks he's Prince. I hope they realized that the guy's no joke.
Sure, he took the stage in orange jeans, silver sneakers and an Egyptian-print dashiki over a shirt with parachute sleeves and gold-sequined arm cuffs.
He said things like, "I'm the fucking best," and called his latest hit single, "Tall Boy," off his new album, Dark Touches, "pretty fucking genius."
But it dawned on me during his performance of the energetic, disco-tinged "Cut Me Up," that if Britney Spears performed (sorry, lipsynched) this song, it would absolutely be #1 on the charts.
The man has soul, and his performance was undiminished by the fact that Kansas City was the tour's last stop and the band was getting over some hellish flu.
Solo and I screamed for "Power Lunch" after the set's finale, "Tall Boy," but to no avail. Har Mar had a plane to catch. And I had to go wring out my underwear.
(Now I'm kidding.)

Scott Spychalski

Set List: Beautiful Bodies
Touch Me
Osculator
Heart Attack
Lalaliar
Stranger
Orange
Lines of Life
You're a Risk
Strut

Set List: Har Mar Superstar
Game Night
DUI
Don't Ask Don't Tell
Cut Me Up
Sunshine
Body Request
Girls Only
???? (sorry, someone help me out with the name of Har Mar's rap)
Brothers and Sisters
Tall Boy

New Beautiful Bodies Video: "Strut"

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:11:48 -0600

Last Friday at Crosstown Station, Alicia Solombrino premiered her two latest music videos, "Made Concrete" by the Republic Tigers and "Strut," by her own band, the Beautiful Bodies. Many people, including myself, were surprised by how professional-looking they were. So without further ado...
Synopsis: A zombie-esque fashion show is held at the Uptown Theater. (I use the suffix "esque" because real zombies wouldn't rock out and/or strut down a runway; they would just shamble about trying to eat you. Or so I have read.)

Alicia Solo Presents New Music Videos for Republic Tigers, Beautiful Bodies

Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:02:04 -0600

Solombrino on the set of "Made Concrete."

Multifaceted local persona Alicia Solombrino has added something else to her resume: music video directing. She's debuting her two latest projects -- narrative-style videos for the Republic Tigers song "Made Concrete" and "Strut" by her own band the Beautiful Bodies -- during a shindig at Crosstown Station tonight. The schmoozefest begins at 7 and will include free Bodies CDs while they last, photography exhibits from the video shoots and, of course, back-to-back screenings of the videos themselves, which should be streaming at AliciaSolo.com by Saturday. The event is free. "We want people to concentrate, and we didn't want to charge anyone," Solombrino says.

Best known as the vixen who fronts the Bodies, Solombrino has long dabbled in photography, Web design and video. She says she'd been chewing on the concepts for "Made Concrete" and "Strut" for about a year. She worked closely with video editor Brian Hicks on both projects. "I look at these videos," Solombrino says, "and I'm already thinking of what I want to do next." That includes getting out of Kansas City to pursue a directing career. Tonight, Solombrino will also announce her plans to move to New York in 2009.