The SF Examiner: Shakin’ it with Planet Booty’s funky soul

http://www.sfexaminer.com/shakin-it-with-planet-bootys-funky-soul/
By: Lauren Gallagher
Special to The SF Examiner

Part of the magic of a live performance is that anything can happen. Bay Area band Planet Booty has seen its share of miscellaneous mischief.

A male yoga devotee split his pants dancing a kung-fu-hustle crossover, a girl once turned a fire extinguisher on the crowd, and one sweaty slip landed a Planet Booty fan in the emergency room with a twisted ankle.

“Hopefully this time we’ll just have fun,” frontman Dylan Germick says of the band’s show at the Mission district’s Blue Macaw on Friday.  “We have nothing but the best intentions, but people just get excited.”

And why shouldn’t they, when presented with a pasty white guy in a spandex onesie giving Jane Fonda and Gene Simmons a run for their money?
Planet Booty’s rabble-rousing, sweat-a-thon theatrics are just part of the package, which includes a ‘‘Soul Train”-worthy six-piece band playing an infectious blend of funk, soul, R&B  and electro.

But there’s no denying the aspect of spectacle, something near and dear to San Franciscans’ hearts.

“This town is a petri dish of crazy,” Germick says. “In most places, a white guy singing soul in glittery spandex is unusual, but not here. People love any excuse to dress up or get naked. You have to step it up in this town or you’ll be outshined.”

But Planet Booty won’t likely be outclassed, with its inventive live shows and  quirky YouTube videos, including one that shows Germick preaching “the gospel of booty” to tourists and locals on The Embarcadero.

Germart, a collective of Germick and his
brothers Nate (a Planet Booty co-founder and member) and Ryan, puts out the videos.

Planet Booty was born after Germick found a mix of 1990s music with a lot of heavy “booty bass” that pounded through his stereo speakers.
“It made me think about how awesome it would be if there was a giant poster that just said ‘Planet Booty’ and somewhere, someone would be playing this music,” Germick says.  “That would make me smile. It wasn’t already out there, so we did it.”

Despite its name and the innuendo it may provoke, Planet Booty propaganda upholds a sense of charm and even innocence. The band’s comedic sensibilities are strong, and it is an equal-
opportunity organization.

“It’s about stripping back the barriers of who you are and saying, ‘I don’t care whose looking at me, I’m gonna shake it and get my cheeks sweaty,’” Germick says. “People are brought together when they channel the power of the booty.”