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Insolence Revolts Maverick band plays the Rebelli-Ache show at Great America By Sarah Quelland IT'S ENOUGH TO MAKE the least squeamish vegetarian queasy. Even strict carnivores' stomachs might turn a bit. This Saturday (June 9), Slim Jim's Rebelli-Ache music and madness tour comes to Paramount's Great America. The tour features San Jose's own Insolence--whose Maverick Records debut, Revolution, comes out next Tuesday (June 12)--along with Bathgate, Grand Theft Audio, Sloppy Meateaters and the Marginal Prophets. Tied into the NBA Hoop-It-Up 3-on-3 streetball program, this free festival will be held in the parking lot at Great America. In addition to live music, Rebelli-Ache promises meat-based American Gladiators-style events like the Whirl & Hurl (climb into a giant ball and roll around in rancid rotting food), Ride the Meat (a bucking mechanical bull made of meat) and Yank the Meat (play tug-of-war with the longest Slim Jim imaginable), as well as a freak show featuring wrestling midgets, spineless rubber girls, sword swallowers and some guy who can drink beer through his eye sockets. I'm tempted to ask, "Are they serious?" But a visit to www.slimjim.com suggests they are, in fact, very serious. While those willing to brave the eat-meat manifesto on Saturday should be in for a musical feast, those who find the Rebelli-Ache tour an affront to their delicate sensibilities need not fear. Insolence is also holding a CD-release party on Monday (June 11) at the Cactus Club with Element of Surprise, Major Liegue and Tomfoolery. Insolence will go on at the stroke of midnight, and everyone in attendance gets a free copy of the CD. The band promises to stick around long enough to sign the albums for fans as well. The show is 16-plus, tickets are $12 and doors open at 8:30pm. Insolence is holding a similar show on June 16 at the Pound in San Francisco. Insolence's new disc succeeds in capturing the ferocious intensity found in the band's live shows. Revolution was produced by Sylvia Massy-Shivy (Tool, System of a Down, Powerman 5000), and the 14-track album homes in on each one of the six members' (vocalists Billy "Mech 1" Rosenthal and Mark Herman, drummer Mando Cardenas, bassist Paul Perry, guitarist Mike Rowan and DJ Jerry M. Delalo a.k.a. Da Hermit) skills and comes across as a full-force exploration of hard-core hip-hop, dub reggae, funk and metal. There's such a strong mixture of styles within each song, it seems Insolence has really created its own signature sound. Mech 1's precision style of rapping and Herman's knock-you-down blasts of sound are supported by complex layers of music that defy anyone to stand still. With "Poison Well" (which may be the first single) on the Driven soundtrack (the band was also featured in the movie) and "Natural High" lighting up the Little Nicky soundtrack, the band has already sent out signals that Revolution was on the way. Insolence rerecorded standouts from previous albums--including "Sick," "Detox" and "Lifted" (Universal); and "Head 2 Head," the instrumental "Sativa" and the new title track, "Revolution" (Poisonous Philosophy)--which strikes an effective balance between the older and the newer material. Though "Front" (from 1996's Within) was on preliminary promos, it looks like the song didn't make the final cut. Other songs on the album include "Death Threat," "Game Over," "Get Up," "1-2, 1-2" (which features Cypress Hill's Sen Dog), "Breakdown" and "Mad Science II," a short 1 1/2-minute segment that really lets Delalo shine. Creamsickle, Outtaline and Naughty Barnyard will compete in the round-one finals of Ultravibe's Sound Off 2001 this Friday (June 8) at the Cactus Club. The show is 16-plus, tickets are $8 and doors are at 8pm. PLAN AHEAD: 3 Bad Jacks, the Chop Tops and Tread Asphalt, June 7 at the Cactus Club; BBS All-Stars with members of UB40, KC and the Sunshine Band, the Wailers and more, June 7 at the Usual; the Skatalites, June 8 at Palookaville in Santa Cruz; Wayne "The Train" Hancock, June 8 at Fuel; the Huxtables, Thee Impossibles, Green Light Go! and Lender, June 9 at the Los Gatos Outhouse; Brickhead and Spun, June 9 at C&J's Sports Bar; Outtaline, Tsunami Bomb, Stunt Monkey and Moodfrye, June 9 at the Cactus; the Red Elvises, Steakhouse and Pollo del Mar, June 10 at the Cactus; Luxt, Stunt Monkey, the Blue and others, June 10 at the Pound; Ozomatli, June 13 at the Icon Supperclub in Palo Alto; Mix Master Mike, June 14 at the Usual; BFD, June 15 at Shoreline; Summer Music Slam 2001 with Krenshaw, Woodshed, SECURITY, Reaction 31, Mallet and Breach, June 16 at the Cactus. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]