Robotic Bear Band Helps Celebrate Birthday At Bender's
By Dave Pehling
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A side project for one of SF's most compelling combinations of furious robotic metal and snarky, self-deprecating humor, the bizarre spectacle of the Teddy Bear Orchestra headlines a birthday show at Bender's Saturday night.
Founder JBOT (aka musician Jay Vance, who had played in the ska-punk groups the Blue Meanies and Skankin' Pickle) came up with the idea for Captured! By Robots after he got sick of dealing with his human band mates in 1997. However, after building his new crew of collaborators -- the percussive pair of androids DRMBOT 0110, and AUTOMATOM and guitar/bass robot GTRBOT666 -- JBOT was enslaved by his creations.
Forced to front the band in chains, JBOT has been dragged across the U.S. on multiple tours featuring the band berating the singer between raging death metal songs and into the studio to record several albums of the group's apocalyptic death metal laced with the bots' misanthropic sense of humor. While the line-up of the robot musicians would shift of the two decades in operation -- the loving Ape Which Hath No Name and the Headless Hornsman both were part of the show for a time -- JBOT and company have grown to become a cult attraction with its collision of comedy, metal and performance art.
Vance took Captured! By Robots out on it's 20th anniversary Your Future Is Death Tour back in 2017 before putting the act on hold besides occasional local gigs to revive another of his projects, the Teddy Bear Orchestra. Essentially re-purposing many of the 'bots he has previously used (or in some cases continues to use) with his main band with new voices and crammed into cuddly teddy bear exteriors, Vance takes on the role of the demented "Herr Konductor" and vocalist as he leads his fuzzy charges through a mix of chaotic original tunes and punk-rock covers.
Vance initially unveiled the Teddy Bear Orchestra in 2007, but it wasn't until a couple of years ago that he retooled and refined the act to bring it back before club audiences. For this 40th birthday party for Subliminal SF designer/concert promoter Mikey Madfes, the animatronic bear band tops a bill that will include the comedic punk-rock illusions of Matt & Paul Magic and the hard-grooving solo bass and keyboard shenanigans of Chaki the Funk Wizard to go along with drink specials and free pizza.
The Teddy Bear Orchestra
Saturday, June 22 9 p.m., $5
Bender's
