Photos by Em Hernandez
Providence, Rhode Island’s Math The Band
exploded in the cold, dark room at Silent Barn in a frenzy of motion and bursts of energy, making more noise than two people could comprehensibly ever possibly make.
Opening the set with a reference to Andrew W.K. (vocalist/guitarist Kevin Steinhauser announced that they would be playing I Get Wet
in its entirety), the duo blasted off with its cover of “It’s Time To Party” with more energy than the king of party himself could muster.
Without skipping a beat, Math jumped straight into its original material, playing “Hang Out/Hang Ten,” introduced by a shrieking war cry from keyboardist/drummer Justine Mainville. She had her left hand on the keys and held a drum stick in her right, while Kevin jumped hoops through his guitar straps. The crowd matched them with its own calisthenics-inspired dance moves, and some fans were streaking neon through the air, holding glowsticks in their hands, mouths, or various holes through their clothes and facial piercings.
In between songs, Kevin and Justine stopped long enough to barely catch their breaths, make more Andrew W.K. references and announce the next song. They tried to end the set on “Why Didn’t You Get A Hair Cut” but pleas and shouts from the crowd were enough to get the duo to perform an encore. They closed their set with the same song they started off with (“It’s Time To Party”) which is appropriate enough because it’s always time to party—if Math the Band has its say, anyway.