last night's gig

‘Chocolate Rain’ Man Tay Zonday Performs Other Songs, Too

And the Internet came to adore him.Photo: Lily Becker


Was it the Giants game or the promise of “Chocolate Rain” that drew the crowd to Greenpoint’s Club Europa last night? Philly electro-punk openers Gang had to compete with the screams of the football fans glued to the bar’s TVs, but the Giants had scored their winning field goal by the time YouTube one-hit wonder Tay Zonday took the stage. The virginal, kettle-drum-voiced crooner from Minneapolis prefaced his chanson célèbre with a smattering of other tunes, some of which — like “Internet Dream” and “Do the Can’t Dance” — managed to rile the crowd almost as much as the inevitable “Chocolate Rain,” which had remarkably serious fans gyrating onstage alongside the deadpan Zonday and hurling Tootsie Rolls into the audience. Other tunes had mixed effects. “New York is such a great, great place,” Zonday intoned while introducing a 9/11 tribute song. “We’re going to the fucking Super Bowl!” hurled back one fan. In the end, Zonday still had enough steam left for an encore. No, it wasn’t the 9/11 song again. —Alex Littlefield

‘Chocolate Rain’ Man Tay Zonday Performs Other Songs, Too