This is going to be short. I wasn't expecting to write a review of the show last night since we've covered Reptar before, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't report on one of the most amazing sets I've seen in a while.

Of course Reptar was preceded by its reputation. I've heard nothing but praise for this young band all summer, but this was my first time finally making it out to Tasty World on a school night to see them. I sure wasn't the only one. The show was free and even though Reptar didn't hit the stage until 1 a.m. the club was still completely packed. There were definitely a lot of UGA students in attendance, but I met a lot of fans and friends of the band who drove up from Atlanta, too. From what I gathered, the band stills calls Athens home although the band members are scattered in colleges across the Southeast. That may actually work to their advantage once they start touring the East coast…

But I digress. Tasty World felt like a sweaty sock last night, the AC was not blowing at all and the room was insufferably humid. Exactly zero people seemed to mind. When Reptar started cranking out its electronic pop, the whole room was dancing along. The beats and samples were infectious, the synth lines memorable and the vocal performance was extraordinary. Singer Graham Ulicny's voice reminded me a little bit of Kevin Barnes, although the Animal Collective and MGMT influences were still prominent. I just couldn't believe how tight Reptar sounded and how enthusiastically the crowd reacted. When Reptar invited a friend who had driven all the way down from New York (I believe they called her "The Party Starter" or something like that) to lead the crowd in a synchronized(ish) dance, hands were uniformly in the air and the whole room mirrored her erratic and spirited moves. It felt like every single person at Tasty World was a personal friend of the band, and in this town, I guess it's quite possible they were. But word of that kind of zealous support tends to spread quickly, and if Reptar keeps pushing forward I think they can really make an impact.

At the show I ran into a friend of mine who had been out of town all summer. "Where did these guys come from?" he asked with amazement. I started to explain that they had just played their first show back in May when I was interrupted by an explosion of glitter. There were sparkling pieces of plastic paper fluttering everywhere and then blue streamers flew up from the crowd. One ribbony band got caught on the ceiling fan and twirled round and round in celebration. Before long half the audience had flooded the stage, dancing wildly next to the band. It was like a bit-size Flaming Lips concerts or something. Everyone left Tasty World that night with huge squares of sparkle plastered on their sweaty faces and chests. Where DID these guys come from?

Well, as it turns out, Graham came from Asheville. That is, he drove down from Asheville last night just to play the show and had to head back that night to make it to his 9 a.m. anthropology class on Wednesday. That's dedication, folks. I wonder how many of the glitterized dancers saw 9 a.m. this morning…

Michelle Gilzenrat