The current booking staff seems to be doing a
fine job capturing a date on many great bands tours at the Majestic Complex
these days. I've found myself, especially this past year, inside the MajesticTheatre
more than ever since the 90’s when Crash Worship and Tortoise would bring out
the weirdos. The Magic Stick was just really starting to get going, still had a
couple bowling lanes in place, the bar you bellied up to was right at the top
of stairs and the shows much more locally centric. The local bent is still there
but even a lazy eye could observe that it revolves around a handful of bands or
members of.
Toronto’s Creepshow opens the evening. With a
chunk of the crowd still in line we make are way decently close to center
stage. Amongst early introductions the band says they finally got there travel
visas in order and their guitarist got into a car wreck and they almost had to cancel.
The shredding beheader with them tonight had a day to learn the parts and
indeed jumped in and around literally with mighty gusto for just stepping into
this.
They also gave a shout out to one of Michigan’s most underrated bands The
Koffin Kats who have made more than a name for themselves across America’s
Wasteland as Bad Motherfuckers.
Creepshow are anchored heavily in the Pyscho -billy
tradition but with glorious hipster hirsuteness, from the crypt lyrics and in
context a glamorous siren of a singer that worked the stage like a it was a
stadium. She finished the set in the
crowd telling everyone to get in closer. Closer. Closer and as some start to
it’s all over. She hops on stage and they’re gone. The band will be at Small’s
in Hamtramck on April 24th. Definitely worth checking out.
Next up the legendary Nekromantix. Their
coffin shaped logo mirroring Kim Nekroman’s signature bass raised high behind
them. Though they hit the stage hard with Kim licking his stand up as he
slapped away there was some sound issues which kept the first part of set
strapped in until one of their stage techs was back at the board setting things
straight. Slapback is a fine art for sure. I remember when Heavy Trash (Matt
Verta-Ray from Speedball Baby & Jon Spencer from ya know the Blues
Explosion) was touring with Powersolo and the Soundman, used to certain
approaches for all bands rather than what the musicians are trying to
accomplish; completely missing the vibe until Verta-Ray got on the dials and suddenly
the hic-cups and dynamics of their sound came through.
Ultimately it didn’t seem to ruin anything for whom was there
particularly to see the Nekromantix , who sang most of the words and piled in
closer as the set went on.
For many of us our introduction to Reverend
Horton Heat was through the SUB POP records single club record “It’s A
Pyschobilly Freakout” which was the trios second song this evening. Most of the
first portion of the set was new material that unfortunately wasn’t yet
available that night for purchase. Singer/Guitar player Jim Heath was pretty
casual on stage. No rhinestoned-make Porter Wagner jealous jacket framed his
shoulders. I heard a few people say they didn’t think they hit it as hard tonight as they had in previous visits.
I hadn’t seen the band since I was in
Austin a few years back for the Austin City Limits Festival where they actually
didn’t stand out as much as they and Supersuckers did amidst all the Grunge era
bands but I felt they indeed did the work. It may have been the pacing of show
they were touring with that featured Deke Dickerson. A picker they met in
Southern California when the band first started.
When Deke came out they did
all the Honky Tonk routines with himself and bassist Jimbo Wallace both
alternately playing Heath’s guitar while he sat down.
If anyone has ever seen
Dale Beavers (who guested on albums by Compulsive Gamblers and toured with R.L.
Burnside and Junior Kimbrough) can get a sense of the story telling mixed with
performance that Deke brings. He at one point donned a hunter’s orange floppy
eared cap, made some slightly homophobic comments that lost me and frankly
started to bore the shit out of me before he caught me back up, the band
engaged and kept the momentum going to a fine finale.
Juke Joint/Review themed
programs like this are supposed to have some breath and impatience.
Holy Sheep
Shit.
Sometimes it’s the journey more than the destination.