Show Reviews!
The Crank-Tones
October 16th @ The Rodeo Bar, NYC
Submitted by Larry Shell, the Jersey Wildcat!!!
Those of you who skipped Saturday night missed one hell of a
good show. Boston's CRANK-TONES are in my opinion one of the finest
outfits on the scene and are amazing musicians with vocal harmonies that'll
slay ya! A real power trio, powerfully good that is!!!
They covered several Joe Bennett & The Sparkletones tunes like
"Cotton Pickin' Rocker" to perfection and when Cranky Frankie switched
to steel for a rendition of Bill Haley & The Comets classic Essex
Records recording, "Crazy Man Crazy," it just sent me to the moon! It
was wonderful to put it mildly! Just one hit after another! A tad
light on the instumentals this time but they more than made up with
their stellar musicianship and all had a rockin' good time! Check out their
CD -- VIBRATE WITH THE CRANK-TONES available I'm sure from Hepcat
and other cool record outlets!
One odd thing though, after the first set, almost half the
crowd left including a number of the regulars? What's up with that???
Very odd as the band announced twice before stopping the first set that
there would be another one.
Forgot to add, the sound at the Rodeo was the best I've heard it
in a
long time. Kudos to the soundman!
Psychonauts, Daddy, Spinatra, Hi Fi & the Roadburners
August 27th @ the Continental, NYC
Submitted by ME!!
Unfortunately i missed the first band, The Psychonauts, but they sounded great
from outside,
where i was waiting for Marilyn! Marissa and i went inside and eventually
snagged the back
table right before the 2nd band, Daddy, went on. UGH!! the singer was half
naked, and she
didn't really do very much but scream and whine. IMHO it was
HORRIBLE. the
actual sound wasn't all that great either, too much feedback,
maybe on
purpose, who knows. They
did a cover of that Jefferson Starship song, i think it's called "One". yuck!! after the set
the chick was
walking around still half naked and I would have liked to have
smacked her
for giving me a headache!
The next band was the Spinatras, who I just kind of assumed were
a ska band,
I've never heard of them. I wasn't really paying attention to
much of their
set but what I did hear kinda reminded me of Bon Jovi. During
their last
song was when I realized that the guitar player was the same guy
we had been
standing next to outside when Marissa remarked "this guy smells
bad!!" By the time they got offstage, most of the goths, hippies and drunkenly-leering men had left or shifted to the back of the bar, leaving mostly just greasers and punks.
I meant to grab Hi Fi's set list, but I forgot. They opened up
with
Hellride, and Erik posed for me so I could get a goofy shot of
him. They
played What The Hell, and Erik kept looking at me and giggling
because he
knew he was fucking up the words :). All night he was telling
people to
dance, so finally during one
of the
instros - the guy that had been standing next to me all night
grabbed my
hand and danced with me! Hey, why not! That was fun. They
played Strange
Things, F.T.W., Craw Fishin' (from "Flat Iron Years", which I
don't
particularly like), Mary Ann, Daddy Yar, which I've never heard
them do, and
of course Chi-Town Hustler. Just as they were about to leave the stage a
girl went up
to Erik and asked him if they would play Get Up and Go, so they
ended with
that. By the end of the set Erik looked kind of pissed off; the
crowd had
totally diminished and he had broken a string on his guitar. I
didn't
realize how many people had left until i turned around to go
find Marissa,
still sitting at the back table. There couldn't have been more
than about
25 people left! I knew the sound wasn't too great, but that's the way Erik likes it. I was going to stick
around to talk to
Erik and Tony, but Tony had disappeared and Erik was packing up
all the
stuff on the stage by himself looking *very* pissed off, so I
decided
against it, and we went to the Kiev instead to eat! :)
Mike Ness with Deke Dickerson
Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel Providence, RI
June 12, 1999
When I arrived at Lupo's that Saturday night at 6:15, 45 minutes before the doors were supposed to open, I was not surprised to see the line wrapped around the corner of the building. When they finally opened the doors around 7:30, the line had stretched to about half a mile long. I knew it was going to be a good night.
Then I walked inside, and saw something I've never seen at Lupo's before - there were chairs set up in neat little rows. Deke Dickerson later told my friends and I that Mike liked it this way, it gave the concert a more "intimate" feel to it.
As Lupo's began to fill up, Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-Fonics hit the stage. I'm certain that less than half the crowd had ever heard of Deke (I've been a fan of his for quite some time now), but he definitely gained many new fans that night. Deke's "dueling doubleneck" guitar bellowed throughout the club. The band was very good, they got many feet a-tappin'. They played most of the songs from their latest release entitled "Number One Hit Record!" such as "Mexicali Rose", "Sparkin'", and "Poon-tang", which definitely was a crowd-pleaser. Towards the end of the set, Deke, his guitarist Johnny Noble and bassist Brian Nevill entertained by switching around instruments - Johnny doubled on the doublenecks with Deke, then Johnny slapped the bass while Deke and Brian doubled, then Deke played the doghouse while Johnny and Brian dueled on the doublenecks!! I must say this was one of the most exciting bands I've ever seen play.
There was a 45 minute break while the stage crew set up for Ness and his band. As soon as the band came on - goodbye chairs!! Few people were still seated, most of the chairs were now being used for standing, or had been tossed aside. Mike and his band - Charlie Quintana on lead guitar, drummer Sean Graves, steel guitarist/2nd rhythm guitarist Chris Lawrence and Brian Nevill (from the Ecco-Fonics) - opened up with "Devil in Miss Jones" then tore right into "Don't Think Twice", the new single off of Ness' first solo album "Cheating at Solitaire". One of the favorites of the night was Johnny Cash's own "Ring of Fire". They played almost all of the songs from the new album, not throwing out any of Social Distortion's work until the encore! The crowd yelled to hear "Ball and Chain", so the band gave it to 'em, loud, hard and fast!! They ended out the night with their version of the Clash's "I Fought the Law". By far one of the best shows I've been to in a long time - and I even got to talk with Deke and Mike afterwards. Mike Ness kissed me on the cheek before disappearing into his tour bus - definitely one show I will never forget!!
Amazing Crowns/Big D & the Kids Table/The Explosion; Amazing Crowns/The Pills/Cash
May 6-7, 1999 @ Bill's Bar, Boston
-Contributed by Mee!!!!
Another weekend, another two Crowns shows! Thursday night:
The first opening band, the Explosion, was apparently pretty well known in Boston, as there was a pretty good turnout and reception for them. They played a sort of punky-rock 'n' roll-y mix. Not bad! Unfortunately they played a very short set so I don't think we got to experience the full "Explosion" feeling.
Up next was Big D & the Kids Table. I was first introduced to them when I found out that one of their sax players, Chris, was the same Chris that played sax with the Crowns for awhile. They are a loud ska-punk band, the lead singer being very very animated onstage! They really got the crowd moving with their heavy horn section, one of the singers doubling on French Horn! Lots of jumping around onstage as well as in the crowd!
The Crowns hit the stage and tore into "Still Royal", a new number from their soon-to-be-released second CD. From the first chord the crowd was dancing and they didn't stop until the band left the stage, which is how they like it!! Lucky for the fans, tonight was an extra-long set. They tried to squish in as many new numbers as possible. Among the new songs is "Mr. Fix-It", destined for Crowns fame. Everyone loves watching Jack swing it to this number, whose chorus says, "I'm Mr. Fix-It, It feels good/Fixin' all the girls in the neighborhood". Jason thinks he's Mr. Fix-It, but we all know who the real Mr. Fix-It is - Jack!! Jason mentioned tonight that the new album is going to be called simply and oddly enough, "Royal" and is due out *hopefully* by the end of June. JD ripped Bill's Bar wide open with that Gretsch, and Judd kept up that frantic beat seemingly effortlessly. Over all the new songs were great, and definitely has everyone anticipating the release of the new album!!
Friday:
Tonight's first opener was a young punk band called Cash. It was their CD-release show, and I picked it up and I must say, they are a talented bunch!! The lead singer/guitarist Sam is a mere 19 years old, however plays his Gretsch like a pro! There are some 2-part harmonies in the songs by Sam and bassist Dee Jay. Definitely a great up-and-coming band from the Boston area, and they're playing with Boston's legendary Shods on June 18th at TT the Bear's - Go see them!!
Next was the Pills, the "mods" of Boston. I stood right in front of the lead guitarist, who had a tray of *at least* 10 pedals in front of him. A great 4-man band whose songs are shared by 3 of the 4. A very fun band to watch, if there was no sound it'd still be a killer show! Some of their antics included trading places, pushing their merchandise on the crowd by offering free pins (and yep I got one!) and silly outbursts. They even got such a good response from the crowd that they went back up and played one more song after they had finished their set. Definitely one of the more fun bands of today. Check them out if you get the chance, you won't be disappointed!
Tonight again the Crowns ripped into "Still Royal" first, and again, the crowd began dancing as if entranced!! It was obvious that everyone was having fun! My new favorite song is "Out The Door", a slower (but still danceable) number. Some other new ones they played tonight were "Chop Shop", "Halos Above Our Horns", "Perfect Sin", and "Blue Light", which Jason always describes as "a song for the lonely ones, sitting at home on a cold New England night, no job, no girlfriend, no cable, staring into the Blue Light." Tonight's set ended with the phenomenal "Do the Devil", and a special treat - Jack was nominated by Jason (and the crowd!!) to scream "DOOOOOOOOO", and he did it twice before they decided the audience had nailed "THE DEVIL!". What a fun night! Good luck to the boys in Pittsburgh and Detroit later on this month, and on the Warped Tour beginning in June!
The Agents
New Orleans, LA April 26, 1999
-Contributed by Bil Herron
On Monday, April 26th, 1999, The Agents rocked New Orleans, LA,
busting Providence stylee all over the place. Two friends and I of course
had to check out the show, so we hopped on the streetcar, after waiting at
the stop for 30 minutes in a freak 30 minute rainstorm. I thought for sure we
would be picked up by car #98, but it wasn't to be. Of course it stopped
raining as soon we got on the car. What the hell, I thought, it just means the
show is going to be all the more worth it! So the streetcar dumps us off at
the edge of the famous French Quarter (think Mardi Gras), but we have to
go to the entire other side, which is a 20 minute walk down the infamous
Bourbon Street. We made it, about ten minutes after the Agents' set was
supposed to start. As we got close to the club, we could tell we were in the
right place because we could hear the horns 2 blocks away! My friends and
I put a jump in our step and got over there as quickly as possible. Cafe
Brasil, where they played, is a cool little place, and people were indeed
"dancing in the streets of New Orleans" (As Frank later reported). We went
to the door, I told the lady collecting the cover that the guy from the record
company said we were in for free. Well, she didn't believe me at all and told
me it was $5 each. So then I had no choice but to turn up the charm and we
ended up getting in free anyway. It's a good thing, too, since I wanted to get
moving. We walked in just in time to see Dawn hopping up on the bar to
wail. She definitely had everyone's attention, with everyone there cheering.
They went through a few old tunes, then busted out with some of the new
album material. Much to our horror, after we saw maybe 5 songs, Jay told
everyone that they had time for only 2 more!! For a minute I resigned myself
to saying, "well, it was free, so you already got your money's worth...", but
luckily a Cafe Brasil guy jumped onstage after that announcement and told
Jay that the band after them cancelled, so they had as much time as they
wanted. Woohoo!!! So we got a few more, as the band is always willing to
please, and everyone in the crowd was having a great time. They wrapped
up their set and proceeded to get ready to pack up their stuff, but New
Orleans hadn't had enough and we managed to coax the band back
upstage for a little encore. What we got was maybe 6 more songs, it was
great!! As soon as the fat opening bass line of "Gratidao" sounded, I was
up singing along with the Providence shouts, and after the show it turns out
they all figured I was from "back home." The show was a hit, think, which I
wasn't really expecting since Ska is sort of a dirty word down south. Joey
was telling me that they had to sit down with markers and cross out the
words "Providence's finest Ska Band" on their posters!! So after chatting
about home for a while, my friends and I left with promises to be at the
Lupo's show.
We walked back and gobbled some beignets (doughboys in RI-speak)
and coffee, wrapping up a great night. Of course, as we were waiting for the
streetcar back, a psychopath cabbie offered us a good deal on a ride
uptown (where Tulane is), so we accepted, not realizing we just got in the
cab with a man who has no concept of speed limits or red lights. Another
adventure. I heard some of the Agents were actually staying on campus,
which was kind of cool. I hope they saw some of the posters that my friend
and I pasted up all over the place!!
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