!!! Get Hot and Bothered

"New York City is where the freaks come to be free," !!! (Chk Chk Chk) singer Nic Offer wailed last night (May 15), but judging by the way his dancing cohorts made the crowd move, it seemed the freaks relocated to the District -- Washington, D.C.'s legendary 9:30 Club, that is. The Sacramento-based dance revivalists, with a host of guest singers and raucous dancers, created an atmosphere that was, well, pure sex. The flamboyant Offer preened and pranced like a rave-kid Dionysus, while the band built towers of sound with vibrant polyrhythms and string spazzouts.

On the flip side, Offer made like Prince all night, too, thanks to his magnetic raunch, but it was during "Dear Can" that the set peaked; Offer climbed the speakers to shake it like a cage dancer, leaving percussionist John Pugh to moan "I know you want more." !!! provided it with "Heart of Hearts" and an orgasmic encore during which Offer incanted, "Can you rock it / Can you feel it," leaving fans to rush the stage, supremely satisfied with the more, more, more. JEFFREY PARKER / PHOTOS BY ERIN YAEGER

We asked: !!!'s newest album is titled Myth Takes. What's your favorite myth, and why?

Name: Daylen Dalrymple
Age: 26
Hometown: Washington, DC
Occupation: Freelance tour managing, merchandise, events, and marketing
"Sisyphus. It's the plight of the indie rocker."

Name: Justin Moore
Age: 21
Hometown: Chula Vista, CA
Occupation: Bum/Student
"I like the one about Persephone. She's the one who gets taken by Hades. She can only come up during the spring, and that's why there's spring."

Name: Amanda Moore
Age: 19
Hometown: San Diego, CA
Occupation: Special assistant to Director of Volunteer and Alternative Resources
"I like the one with echoes. The guy is so in love with himself that he's banished to a cave where he can only hear his own voice forever."

Name: Chelsea Stewart
Age: 19
Hometown: Austin, TX
Occupation: Student
"Ishmael -- It's an environmentalist book, how we're told from day one that humans are the essence of everything, and that we can do whatever we want to the environment."

Name: Matt McGillicuddy
Age: 22
Hometown: Fairfax, VA
Occupation: Lab technician
"Girls don't fart."

Name: Ekaterina Ivanova
Age: 19
Hometown: Rockville, MD
Occupation: Student
"I guess when Hades takes Demeter's daughter down to Hades and she eats the pomegranate."

Name: Robby Bassler
Age: 19
Hometown: Sterling, VA
Occupation: Drama student
"Jack and the Beanstalk," because he tried, you know. Climbing that beanstalk took some determination."

Name: Adam Pol
Age: 21
Hometown: Fairfax, VA
Occupation: Filing assistant
"UFOs, because it's the whole, 'Is it a myth, is it not a myth' thing."

Name: Brian Borcherdt
Age: 30
Hometown: Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, CAN
Occupation: Musician/founder of Holy Fuck
"The myth of the ware lobster. It comes out at high tide."

Name: Laura Fender
Age: 18
Hometown: Sterling, VA
Occupation: Student
"Yetis, definitely yetis. I just wish they did exist, so they're my fave."