RFTT
I arrived to the show kind of
late due to bike trouble. The first
band, Horse or Cycle, had already started, though they were only in their first
song. Horse or Cycle is basically an
indie-rock kind of band, but more like the originators of the genre than some
of the more recent stuff. They combined
clean vocals with noisy guitars that intertwined interestingly or sounded off
percussively like the Gang of Four or the Pop Group. It was a good set and not too long; I would
definitely see them again. Cool stuff.
After Horse or Cycle was Brass
Chariot, who I had heard was a classic
rock band that stuck close to the genre and was generally boring. This was not exactly true; Brass Chariot
ended up being more like a cheesy, fast punk/garage band. The band was composed of three old guys who
might have been members of the Melvins and a younger guy who looked like Fred
from Scooby-Doo (ascot included). The
first song they played was something about hating life or something; the older
guitarist guy sung it and it was pretty cool.
Whenever the Fred looking guy sung a song it always seemed like he was
trying too hard. His vocals always
seemed really off, like he was pushing his voice in a way that just didn't
work. Even though I really like some of
what they were doing, Brass Chariot started to annoy me by the end of their
set. There were far too many guitar
solos that always started after short breaks in their songs and Mr. Ascot's
song intros were so very rockist and always something like, "Fuck yeah
were gonna take you to another fucking planet," or "Next up we got
Rocket from the fucking Tombs!" I
guess Brass Chariot are alright, but they should try to be less generic and
maybe get rid of that ascot guy. Brian
was basically right, but they were more like Millions of Dead Cops than
Mountain.
After Brass Chariot had left,
the tension started to build. Rocket
from the Tombs started setting up. They
had some shredded amps and old guitars; all of Cheetah Chrome's guitar pedals
were red with cream knobs. Craig Bell,
the bass player, looked a lot like Benjamin Franklin, and Steve Mehlman, the
drummer was very similar to Kurt Cobain; Richard Lloyd's replacement, Gary
Siperko, looked like a younger Lee Renaldo.
The rest of the band stood onstage for a few minutes until the crowd
separated a little near the steps to the stage and local poet/show promoter Che
Elias appeared with David Thomas right behind him. The Rocket from the Tombs and Pere Ubu singer
was a lot thinner and haggard looking than I expected, but here he was, looking
like an ancient sailor who had been lost at sea for ten years. I became very nervous from his presence.
Pere Ubu kicked their set off
with their new single "I Sell Soul" which sounded great. David Thomas' whiny vocals whizzed around the
speeding guitars. It sounded pretty
close to the studio version. Next they
played the acid-blues "Good Times Never Roll" with Siperko's psychotic,
but cerebral guitar solo and then the forlorn, early Pere-Ubu-ish "Birth
Day." I did not know either of
these songs, but they sounded pretty good here.
After the two new songs, Rocket from the Tombs played the old songs
"So Cold," which governed an audience cheer as the opening riff
started, and "What Love Is."
The latter song had the audience sing along and brought a lot of energy
with it. Next up was a new song,
"Anna" and then the classic "Amphetamine," with Cheetah
standing in for the late Peter Laughner; this song was especially solemn and
tear-inducing. Craig Bell sang his weird
femme-fatale metaphor "Muckraker" about a Nazi girlfriend or
something then David Thomas sang "Maelstrom" about telephone calls
and the somber B-side "Romeo & Juliet." Some punk guys to the left of me got rowdy
during "Butcherhouse 4."
Before the song had even started they said, "Hey can you guys play
'Ain't it Fun'?" in a bored annoying way.
David missed some lines and looked worried and anxious while Steve Mehlman
became very nervous and snapped his drum sticks, but the band got right back
together in a moment. They played
"Six and Two" and then went right into "30 Seconds Over
Tokyo" which brought a really fast and manic breakdown. The next song seemed to be the song everyone
was waiting for, "Sonic Reducer;" as soon as I heard the opening
chords everything was perfect. It was
fast and ferocious and the whole crowd sang along. Gary Siperko did some weird watery, springy
guitar stuff and Craig Bell did some backing vocals like in their original
version before the later one by the Dead Boys.
Waiting on the stage for everyone to finish clapping, Rocket from the
Tombs went right into their encore sort of thing (I'm pretty sure David Thomas
hates the ritual around this and thus sort of doesn't really do one). Cheetah said, "I guess you guys sort of
have us trapped now don't ya?" while some guys yelled stuff and then they
played my favorite, "Final Solution."
Rocket from the Tombs ended the night with "Sister Love Train"
and the discordant "Life Stinks" and then got their merchandising set
up. Brian and I talked with Steve, who I
gave some Satyr/Elfheim stuff to, and Craig for a while. I had a nervous conversation with Cheetah
Chrome as he chuckled, trying to disconnect his gear. David Thomas shook my hand because I waited
for him to get change for me and then yelled at Mr. Ascot from Brass Chariot
when he patted Mr. Thomas on the back as he went to get his stuff. It was a good night.
[This review previously appeared in Sneak Attack #3, the South Seas Sneak official fan zine]
