He's Not Gay!

Goblins, Disney characters, vampires and zombies gathered Friday night for DiPiazza’s Halloween show with local Long Beach band, He’s Not Gay!

The lights dimmed and the band, decked out as members of the Village People, came on stage and began dancing to “Y.M.C.A.” This pumped up the crowd for what was sure to be an entertaining and thrilling kick-off to the Halloween weekend.

The Le Tigre-type band performed several songs from its self-titled, August 2009 release starting with “Oh Angela.” The song’s namesake was in the audience that night, wearing a homemade He’s Not Gay! T-shirt. The audience chanted along with vocalist Merilou S., “Oh, oh Angela.”

Merilou told everyone to start chanting, “We want more cowbell!” Then drummer James C., a Cal State Long Beach student, played a drum solo while the rest of the band broke into choreography.

Merilou showed off her many talents, including rapping and playing ripping guitar solos. People’s jaws dropped in amazement.

“Ska Song” brought 50s Jamaica back as the crowd dispersed to form a skank pit, an area for a type of dance done to reggae or ska music.

Bassist Jessie M. jumped off stage and skanked along with fans. He put his arm around them as they ran and skipped around the circle together.

He’s Not Gay! also covered two songs that excited the audience. Jessie joined the dance floor again as He’s Not Gay! performed The Ting Tings’s “That’s Not My Name.” After that, the band performed “I Got a Feeling” by Black Eyed Peas. The crowd jumped around and sang as James played another drum solo.

The band paused its set to announce the winners of a costume contest it was holding for the night. Among contestants were a dead prison inmate, cat lady and Dorothy. The mummy, chosen by the loudest cheers from the audience, was the winner.

At the end of its set, He’s Not Gay! told the audience to make a pathway. “Make way for Mulan and the Huns!” they chanted as two men dressed as “Mulan” characters walked down the aisle and onto the stage. They began dancing as the band played “I Can Make a Man Out of You” from the Disney film.

After its performance, the band showed its humble side by meeting with fans and taking pictures. With such fun personalities and good dance beats, He’s Not Gay! is a band to watch out for. - Brittany Woolsey-Daily 49er

Remember pop punk? It ruled the modern-rock roost briefly in the late ’90s and early ’00s before falling out of fashion, kind of like how all those competing collect-call numbers advertised incessantly right before everyone got cell phones. But now newer acts such as All Time Low are hitting big, and Blink-182 are back together, so the world is a safer place for Buena Park’s He’s Not Gay.

The trio (formerly a four-piece) are not ashamed to cite Blink as one of their main influences, not that there’d be much use in trying to hide it—“Saving James,” from their five-track, self-titled EP, makes it pretty obvious, with the low/high vocals of bassist Jessie Meehan and guitarist Merilou Salazar sounding like gender-reversed versions of Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge. “La Fin” shines with a familiar yet timeless energy through staccato guitar chords and fast-paced vocals, though on songs such as “Oh Angela,” the melodies feel a little too worn-in, bleeding over from nostalgic to outdated. But the band seem to get that.

“Our music is starting to become less pop-punky and more indie pop-ish,” Salazar says. “We try to sit around and listen to a bunch of music and incorporate a lot of different styles, and it turns out to be indie pop.”

He’s Not Gay—the name’s quite literal, coming from the fact that drummer James Casil is the band’s only straight member—are also tireless self-promoters, hanging out at local shows to force their tunes on the unsuspecting masses. Not content to pass out CDs or stickers that’ll likely end up in the trash, they’ll stick headphones on you and make you listen on the spot. “Fifty percent of the time we practice, and 50 percent of the time we promote,” Salazar says. You could witness their sonic evolution firsthand—even if you didn’t plan to. - ALBERT CHING-OC Weekly