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Apollo Sunshine open for Wu-Tang

"We opened for the Wu-Tang Clan last night," Apollo Sunshine singer Jesse Gallagher told the audience as he took the Paradise stage last night. "It was the biggest crowd we've ever played for. It was surreal," he added with a hint of disbelief voice.

Many comparisons have been made to Apollo Sunshine's music since they surfaced three years ago: the twisted garage-punk noise of Guided by Voices, the outré stage shenanigans of the Flaming Lips, and the classic musicality of the Beatles to name a few. But nobody has ever made a connection between Wu-Tang's hardcore rap and Apollo Sunshine's arty jam rock. So how did this happen? "Our manager knew someone who is booking them right now, and I guess it was cool with them," said drummer Jeremy Black before the show. "I think they were down with rock music." The crowd was a different story. "It was a tough crowd to win over. Half was like 'Yeah,' and the other half . . . well, we got some shit thrown at us, and we got some fingers. But overall, I think a lot of people thought, 'Wow, these guys don't give a fuck, they're doing a rock show opening up for Wu-Tang.'" Not only was the crowd hostile at times; it was enormous. "The Palladium was completely filled for the sound check," said Gallagher. "That was fucking outrageous because there's 3,000 people there and I'm checking this one acoustic guitar over the PA. It was like 'G chord, G chord,' you know, trying to get a level and everybody was screaming 'Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang.' And I've got this guitar with a rainbow strap and playing G chords. We're on stage with our suits, hats and beards, and people are like, 'Who the fuck are these guys?' It was fucking funny."

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