New Year’s Eve 2007 at the Lincoln Theater - Monkey Navigated Robots

The bus load of Booty Band and Barefoot Manner fans and revelers that swamped Raleigh’s Lincoln Theater after 10PM on New Year’s Eve missed out on a special musical treat. Comprised of Hank Smith on banjo, bassist Leo Kishore, percussionist Rob Girardin and Mike Babyak on vertical and horizontal guitar, Monkey Navigated Robots opened the night with an impressive early set. Although they’ve only played a handful of dates since forming in 2006, these guys are all veteran musicians in the Raleigh/Durham jam scene. Hank and Leo make up half of Barefoot Manner and Rob comes most recently from Oblivious Action Figures. Lefty lead guitarist and vocalist Mike Babyak who formerly headed the Shapeshifters, is also the organizing force behind Triple Fret which has a rotating membership and draws the likes of Steve Kimock, Ben Palmer, Mike Rosado, Scott Sawyer and Jim Kost.

The band opened with the haunting original “Voice in My Head” and followed up with “Hangup Your Hangups” (Herbie Hancock), fitting songs for a group led by a psychology-trained guitarist. They continued with “Sweet Life”, an original, socially conscious song that contrasts the lives of Dominican sugar cane workers with those that taste the fruits of their labor. “Flying Saucer Dudes” (Bela Fleck) was a new song to the group’s lineup. Leo’s tribute to Bob Barker, “Price Is Right Theme”, was 8 minutes of mid-morning flashback. Their set concluded with another Babyak original, the Afro-Caribbean-World-beat tune, “Everybody's Africa” which is always a crowd pleaser with its climactic false ending and energetic reprise. With Barefoot Manner taking an extended break, Hank and Leo may now have lots of time for MNR.

Additional images of the show are available for viewing at:
http://www.richardfcox.smugmug.com/gallery/4092262

The recording of Monkey Navigated Robots’ set is available for downloading at:
http://www.archive.org/details/MNR_NYE0708