Photos | Review: TWRP’s “Superior Moves” Take Over DC (+ VIP EXCLUSIVE!)

Doctor Sung of TWRP at Union Stage on their New & Improved Tour; June 14th, 2022

Who: “New & Improved” Tour: TWRP; Rich Aucoin

Where: Union Stage, Washington, DC

When: June 14, 2022

TWRP is no stranger to Concert Crap’s webpages! In late 2018, we first caught the intergalactic quartet as they opened for Ninja Sex Party at The Fillmore Silver Spring. Within nine months, the future foursome co-headlined Baltimore Soundstage with The Protomen, where we also got to chat with frontman Doctor Sung one-on-one!

If you‘ve perused the gallery above, you might’ve noticed that these space-sailing heroes look a wee bit different in 2022. (And, for once, it‘s not just because of the 21st century plague.) Stick around to get an introduction to the latest update of TWRP — including a CC-exclusive peek into their VIP “Remix Party” — straight from Union Stage in DC!

EXCLUSIVE: TWRP’s VIP “Remix Party”

Since its inception on this tour, TWRP’s VIP experience came with an honors-system ban on all recordings… until now! TWRP granted CC permission to capture the VIP session in DC — but only in photos and written word!

Between the 35–40 VIP attendees, the energy in the lower floor of Union Stage at 5:30pm was somehow higher than DC’s starkly-humid summer air! Immediately encouraging applause upon entering the stage, Doctor Sung was the first one up to set the wonderfully weird tone of the coming activities.

In his boxy, taupe sport coat, matching slacks, and socks squished between flip-flops, Sung introduced his Adidas-clad bandmates: bassist Commander Meouch, guitarist Lord Phobos, and drummer Havve Hogan. After swearing in the VIPs, the band invited everyone to submit questions to the band via their VIP Questions Box slips.

Between three live re-arrangements of beloved deep-cuts, TWRP picked questions at random. In the event that a member did not like the chosen question, they reserved the right to veto it! While Sung and Meouch are known for their laid-back snark, Phobos also gave his own hot takes. Using his new helmet/mic combo to let the room hear his uniquely-processed voice, he refused to hold back his sharp wit! (Havve Hogan stayed silent, but his laser eyes spoke volumes.)

As the session came to a close, many nuggets of TWRP trivia were revealed. Here’s a few:

Some of the band’s favorite “bad” movies include Samurai Cop, and any film made by Neil Breen.
One of Meouch’s least favorite memories from this tour was trying to find parking near Union Stage earlier that day.

To nobody’s surprise, Doctor Sung can do the worm! Even in flip-flops!
Phobos will sulk and hang his head if an audience member says “the wrong member” is their favorite.

Rich Aucoin

When doors opened, the majority of the remaining 450 audience members for the main show raced by the upstairs lobby/bar and down the stairs to get a spot close to the stage! Usually, this kind of anticipation at a gig is just for the headliner, but the conversations overheard that night name-dropped Rich Aucoin in equal measure. As the lights lowered, the opener’s set immediately justified that buzz.

Incorporating a heavy amount of carefully-synced videos from movies and memes, the Canadian “Space Cowboy” jumped right into his octet of alt-pop. Clad in his cowboy hat, visor, and holding a wireless lightbulb, he conducted the crowd into chants, using the rear projector to display the words at times between video clips. A pre-recorded Michael Caine impression served as the narrator of his tale, as his set stripped back society’s norms.

While the uninitiated might’ve been confused by the lightspeed weirdness of Aucoin’s presentation at first, his performance truly won over any doubters. Songs like “Yelling in Sleep” and “The Other” hit the core of the chaotic emotions many in the room dealt with daily, whether it be from mental health struggles, or other traumatic experiences. Aucoin utilized high-concept imagery and packaging of his art to lift up the crowd from their lows.

By the latter half of his set, the Space Cowboy swapped the hat and visor for a tank top stating ”GENDER IS OVER. IF YOU WANT IT,” as well as a rainbow US flag print on his bike shorts. The loudest (and appropriately proudest) singalongs happened in this portion, especially when Aucoin jumped off the stage and bounced along with the crowd in the choruses. Closing with ”It,” he had everyone light up their phone flashlights as the room sang “we won’t leave it all in our heads!”

TWRP

After the full-body workout and soul cleansing that Rich Aucoin provided, the room was already steaming up! If someone didn’t grab a free cup of H?O from the side bar, they likely regretted it as soon as TWRP emerged from backstage. These four travelers of time and space create a thirst like no other.

Opening with “Comin’ Atcha” from their 2020 quarantine album Over the Top, Sung, Meouch, Phobos, and Havve kicked off their set proving their synth-rock supremacy. At this point, the band were finally donning their New & Improved gear, with each member sporting their recently re-designed armor.

This theme of new improvements not only applied to TWRP’s look, but also their newest music! Using their latest LP as their tour’s namesake meant its tracklist had heightened placement in the set. Lead single “Bright Blue Sky” and new favorites like “Polygon” and “Superior Moves” were welcome to the crowd, who knew every word and danced along with Sung’s brief moments of funky choreo!

While many new things were celebrated, old traditions still made their presence known. Even after playing the DC/Baltimore area for the better chunk of a decade, Meouch and Sung still made sure to dedicate (almost) every song “to all the ladies here tonight!” Sung’s signature nunchuck kata at the outro of “Atomic Karate” was impressively fast and slick — so much so that one of the ends of the nunchuck slipped its cover off!

Encore

Before the room could process it, it was already time for the encore. In a shocking twist, Lord Phobos returned to the stage alone, drenched in red lights. Unbeknownst to the other three, Phobos grabbed his mic and got so caught up in hyping up the crowd that he ”broke.” The rest of the band returned to the stage and lamented their predicament, with Meouch claiming that ”we can’t just get a new guitarist, they’re on backorder for months!” Luckily, Havve used his handyman skills and got Phobos to reboot, complete with a Windows XP restart chime.

After playing “All Night Forever,” Sung allowed the rest of TWRP to cover Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” according to a “gentleman’s agreement,” as they had been intermittently threatening to do so a couple of times earlier in the night. Naturally, however, they tapered off pathetically after the intro: “We only know the first eight bars!”

With nothing else to top the absurdity of the moment, TWRP signed off and left the crowd wanting more, as is tradition. But what more could DC ask for? The night could’ve gone on for forever and not felt like enough!

Follow TWRP on social media and music streaming platforms:

Website l Facebook l Twitter l Instagram

YouTube l Spotify l Bandcamp l Apple Music

Follow Rich Aucoin:

Website l Facebook l Twitter l Instagram

YouTube l Spotify l Bandcamp l Apple Music

–

Post by Elizabeth Owens

Did you get to see any dates of the “New & Improved” Tour? Comment below!