Recap Mahjongg at the Memorial Union Terrace

When Chicago’s Mahjongg brought its polyrhythmic electro-funk (and personal laser-light show) to the Memorial Union Terrace on Thursday, it was tough to imagine what was going through the head of the average bystander. To stumble across frontman Hunter Husar—complete with mustache, chain necklace, and white Capri pants—running in place, beating on some roto toms, and howling into a vocoded microphone must have caused one or two spit takes. Husar and his bandmates (except for drummer Josh Johannpeter) each had a suitcase atop a keyboard stand loaded with computers, keyboards, and other assorted gadgetry. Between the relentless thump of Mahjongg’s dense rhythmic layers and the ridiculous Spencer Gifts light show, it’s easy to see how the few random folks that actually stood up to watch the band may have mistaken the performance for some kind of fucked-up (and poorly attended) rave party.

The band spun its meager audience into a tiny dance party for “Running In Place”—an as-of-yet unreleased crossbreed of Zapp and Butthole Surfers, packed with stuttering synths and robotic harmonies. Before the quartet could launch into “Whoop,” some shirtless dudebro in giant cargo shorts kept yelling, “Where’s my dose?” Husar ignored the amateur comedian and asked the crowd a far more important question: “Can everybody see the lasers?”

Mahjongg’s set was a testament to just how far the band has wandered into the clutches of dance-pop since the departure of guitarist Jeff Carrillo, whom the band never replaced. Even the guitar noise that soaked into the worldly math-groove of “Tell The Police The Truth” from 2008’s Kontpab was a triggered via sampler.

As the band ripped through a number of jams from Mahjongg’s latest album, The Long Shadow Of The Paper Tiger, nothing was more ear-catching than the tempo-perfect insanity of Johannpeter. Even better was the way each of his drums were triggered and run through Husar’s computer to electronically alter his sound, hit by hit, from track to track. Most batshit of all, however, was that he didn’t appear to be wearing headphones or playing to a click-track, as he effortlessly hammered along to the sequenced madness of set-closer “Miami Knights.” It’s a shame that most of the folks who were around for the impressive opening set of the twee-gone-yacht-rock charm of Chicago’s Cool Memories had gradually scurried off-Terrace by the time Mahjongg hit the stage.