Camp Jump & Yell

Harry and the Potters, Math the Band and Uncle Monsterface are three nerd-rock bands from Massachusetts and New York. This summer, they'll be hosting the Unlimited Enthusiasm Expo 08, something they've billed as "the DIY traveling summer camp circus."

Tour details haven't been announced yet, but the group will be stopping in Washington, D.C. on Monday, June 30.

The Bands
Based on what I've seen of the bands, it should be a good time for dorks who enjoy live music and dancing like idiots.

Harry and the Potters dress up like the famous boy wizard and perform as though Harry has traveled through time to form a band with himself. They rock out on guitars and keyboard (with the occasional saxaphone addition) and throw out a ton of nerd references to both the HP books and the real world.

Math the Band has amazing energy on stage and their music is exceptionally fun to dance to -- my favorite song from them is called the Water Cycle, with the ace lyrics: "Evaporation, condensation, precipitation, that's the water cycle / evaporation, condensation, precipitation and motorcycles!"

I'm less familiar with Uncle Monsterface, but they seem pretty interesting -- they're sock puppet rock. Way cool.

The Website
It's easy to tell from the number of exlamation points in their news post that the UE folks are really, really excited for this tour. I mean, they're filled with UNLIMITED ENTHUSIASM! And so are the fans of the bands, many of whom who have converged on the Camp Jump and Yell For Boys and Girls Forum.

The bands formed the Unlimited Enthusiasm website in February 2008 with a secretive intro of bizarre drawings and quotes. After a series of puzzles and clues, the site grew to become the Camp Jump and Yell hub it is now, without much purpose but a whole lot of enthusiasm.

The site has also recently added a Wiki, which offers a history of the clue-based website (used to drum up excitement building up to these tour date announcements and, presumably, future announcements for UE), a who's-who of the site, and some other weird stuff.

The Bottom Line
If you're into anti-corporate nerd-rock, live summer shows, lots of dancing and more geek references than you can shake a wand at, the Unlimited Enthusiasm Expo 08 is definitely an event to add to your calendar.

An indie rock summer day camp might be the perfect addition to your lonely corporate summer -- honestly, who could resist a chance to put on your glasses, take off your shoes and shout the quadratic formula to the high heavens while dancing to some sweet beats alongside a hundred strangers? Sounds like a good time to me.