The Mutaytor

Burning Man certainly has no shortage of weird bands, but the grandaddy of all weird Burner bands has to be Mutaytor, an ever-evolving burlesque troupe/electronic jam band/glorified drum circle that’s been making the rounds for at least a decade now. Once upon a time, they were basically just one dude drumming and another dude twirling knobs on one of those little synthesizers that makes that “eeh-eeh-eeh” sound that was really popular with bands like Prodigy and Chemical Borthers back in the nineties. But at some point, it evolved (sorry, mutated) into more of a full band project, with lots of instruments besides drums played by, y’know, actual musicians. (Including—and this is probably my favorite part—the former bass player from Oingo Boingo.)

These days, a typical Mutaytor show includes burlesque dancers, acrobats, aerielists, a horn section, hula hoopers, Chinese dragons and (venue permitting) lots of fire.  Somebody give this band a residency in Vegas, already!

Links:

• Mutaytor official site
• Mutaytor on MySpace