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I love Michael Monroe. I think I’ve made that pretty clear. If you want to see Psychotic Frenzy: The Band, you really need to catch his show. I did… twice.

First up was the Bowery Ballroom in NYC. I’d never been there before, and my first thoughts upon entering were, “Oh God, he’s gonna die.” It’s not a huge venue, but Mr. Monroe is a fucking monkey. I’d seen him with Hanoi Rocks, and he jumps, climbs, leaps, kicks, flies, swings, hangs upside down, and basically bounces off everything, and in this space, I really was kind of nervous.

Bu nothing too terrible happened. I mean, he fell off the stage and head-butted a guy… It was kind of priceless seeing his face go from total panic to acceptance to thud. It was even more priceless seeing his wife look like she was about to have a heart attack from off-stage. But Michael Monroe is nothing if not the consummate showman, and he kept on going, head bleeding and all.

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My iTunes decided to define Michael Monroe’s Sensory Overdrive as indie rock, which is just wrong. Indie rock makes me think of like… wait, I don’t even know anymore. Pavement? The Postal Service? Do those count? My college roommate would listen to all that stuff so any knowledge I have is very much secondhand. Anyway, after a twelve-year hiatus, Hanoi Rocks put out one of their best releases with Street Poetry in 2007 and a year or so after that proclaimed they were done for good. Mr. Monroe and co. quite irked me with that news before I realized this is a band we’re talking about. “For good,” rarely means forever so I still have hope. But, eh I’m also still hoping for a Guns n’ Roses reunion with Axl Rose, so take that as you may. I’m either highly optimistic or stupidly naïve.

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