On May 4, 2018, John Maus and co. took over Deno’s Wonder Wheel Theme Park in Coney Island, NYC.  The park was open only to ticket holders for the night’s show, a Red Bull Music Festival event.  The ticket included seeing the night’s entire lineup, selected by John Maus himself, as well as access to all of the rides inside!  The park also had also been updated with Maus-y touches: spooky skeletons, eyeball balloons and more were found throughout the park.  The rides themselves had John Maus songs playing on them.

The evening held sets from Maraschino, Gary War, Superstar & Star, Geneva Jacuzzi, John Maus, and Tommy Wight III.  Below I’ll give you a run down of my thoughts on the sets from John Maus and Geneva Jacuzzi, specifically.

John Maus

Gone are the days where John Maus plays a show solo.  Maus has been touring with a proper band for nearly a year now.  The first time I saw him with his band was in August of last year, also on the East Coast (once in New Jersey and then in New York City). Many, many shows into their established lineup later, the band took the stage at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Park on May 4, and performed with precision.

The evening felt perfect, almost suspiciously perfect, for a John Maus set.  Usually, there is some tinkering with the technicals by Maus while performing… this show Maus felt focused.   The mood had been set, the crowd was attentive and the Dr. was in.

We got through the standard set of songs Maus has been performing of late, many from 2017’s Screen Memories, a handful from 2011’s We Must Become the Pitiless Sensors of Ourselves, and crowd favorites “Rights for Gays” and “Bennington”.  Nearing the end of the set, Maus performed “Outer Space” for one of the first times, the the opening song on his latest album (the bonus album in his vinyl boxset recently released), Addendum.  

I’ve seen a lot of John Maus performances, at this point.  This was hands down, his best performance I’ve ever seen him execute.  The sealing factor was that while each beat was accounted for, the John Maus I first saw live felt back in his element. 

Unfortunately, the music I connect most to has a darkness, and John Maus is probably my favorite musician because of his vulnerability.  Everything feels so raw – he tears himself apart each night on stage.  He boasts to the crowd, he bellows, he howls - all to pop music.  His pain is felt.  This has all been THE John Maus experience.  When he started touring with his band, I believe his performances continued to be genuine, but that he finally felt some comfort in touring alongside friends. 

The reason the Coney Island performance felt so perfectly Maus, is because, although he was playing with his band once more, it felt like Maus was on that corner stage alone.  When he screamed through the loud performance as usual, the trauma felt current in his voice, instead of familiar.  His struggle felt true and present, as it had when John Maus toured by himself and the sets were more intimate.  

Here's a short video clip I took of John Maus performing "Outer Space".

Geneva Jucuzzi

Taking the stage prior to Maus was his friend, Geneva Jacuzzi.  I’ve heard things about her performances, and now I can say I understand why people find them so memorable.  After crawling onto stage, Geneva moaned while inside an inflating bubble around her.  Once the bubble was completely filled – the climax – her first song, officially began. 

I have never believed someone could work an inflatable bubble the way Geneva Jacuzzi does.  She spent about 3 songs inside the bubble – dancing, vouging, pressing up against each side, until she escaped.  After escaping she wears the bubble, she thrusts against the bubble, she beats the bubble up! 

Once out of the bubble, we also could really focus on Geneva’s moves.  Yes, her songs are interesting in their own right, but Geneva really puts on the theatrics live. You are here to see her perform! Between songs with sinister laughter, she winks to the crowd.  During the songs there is more flirtation when Geneva shines her own spotlight on herself, pointing it towards her most important features.

At one point Geneva got into the crowd, forming a divide between the people, a pathway she could run between.  She is inviting but terrorizing.   She got close to everyone briefly just to retreat back into her bubble before the show’s end.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been pleasantly surprised by a new live performance, and Geneva took my breath away.  You can count on me being at her next performance in the PNW.