What do you get when you combine the musical discipline of a classically trained composer with the black-leather-wearing, chain-smoking sensibilities of a hardcore punk rocker, and then hand him some DJ equipment and synthesizers just for kicks? What you get is Bob Cornelius Rifo’s newest musical escapade, the Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77.

At first I wasn’t sure what the addition of “Death Crew 77” to the name meant, as the Bloody Beetroots only recently adopted the new nomenclature for their current tour. After seeing the changes that they have made to their live show, I think that the new name could be the best possible descriptor for an almost indescribable act.

On Friday, April 24, the Bloody Beetroots unleashed their monster on an unsuspecting San Diego crowd. When Rifo and his bandmates Tommy Tea and Edward Grinch took the stage, laden with everything from turntables and synth boards to electric guitars and drum sets, the audience knew that this was an entirely different animal than the more traditional DJ sets that the band had performed while touring last year.

The San Diego House of Blues was at maximum capacity, with the crowd flowing from the front doors to the upper balcony, and back down to the flooded dance floor. The trio came out, guns blazing, with their latest single, “Domino.” It sucked everyone in with its ominous build-up before dropping the bass and sending the pack into a jumping frenzy.

They played some of their newer tracks, such as the revamped “Warp 1977,” but also fed the fans some of their old favorites such as “Dimmakmmunication” and their “Choo Choo” remix. The real flashes of brilliance, however, came from the sudden and spontaneous leaps by Rifo from synthesizers and keyboards to his heavily distorted electric guitar, which he savagely strummed until the crowd couldn’t be sure if they were at an electro-dance show, or in the middle of a mosh pit. At times, push came to shove, and people ended up on the ground, which seems like the natural product of placing angsty punk rockers and glow-stick waving ravers under one roof. Styles collided and the diverse groups of fans had little in common besides a fierce love for the band. Some of the fans may have been getting a little over-zealous– one man leaned over the railing of the upper balcony and signaled to frightened onlookers below that he was going to jump, and that they had to catch him. Thankfully, someone was able to stop this guy from making his poorly planned leap of faith, which would have surely turned the dance beats into ambulance sirens.

Near the end of their set, Rifo bared his punk roots with growling vocals during a cover of the Refused’s “New Noise.” The abrasive screams and punk riffs somehow blended beautifully with the gothy electronic dance beats, making me think that the Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77 might be the only band on earth that can do what they do, and they do it well.

The show ended after two encore performances, and as the beats grew silent, the band knelt down on the stage and embraced their fans. Rifo had spent most of the set with his black mask lifted above his mouth, facilitating his constant water spitting and cigarette smoking habit, and in these closing moments, the smile on his face spoke volumes of his thoughts on the new chapter in his musical career. The Bloody Beetroots were already masters of electronic tracks, and now they’ve delivered the same old body of dance beats, but with the black beating heart of punk rock within. They are continuing their tour, with back-to-back sold out shows in LA, before they leave the states for a stint in Australia and finish their tour in Europe. For more information on their tour, check out their MySpace.

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