Preen like a monkey
It was a maximum big bang for your buck Saturday night at Buffalo’s Town Ballroom with The New York Dolls, The Supersuckers,
The Chesterfield Kings, The Charms, and The New York Vaults.
The Vaults kicked off the rock loud and heavy with juke-joint swagger and
arena muscle. It was the wake-up — and reminder —the audience needed.
The Charms played tight and energetic as well, with a garagy
crunch and classic transitor pop. Besides, shiny
black leather on a suicide blonde always sounds good.
And all hail the Chesterfield Kings. They exploded with Mose
Allison’s “I’m Not Talking” and simply did not let up. Greg Prevost’s performance
was a non-stop tantrum as he seethed and slithered about the stage swinging his
mic stand and body recklessly. The Kings brought it,
they rocked it, they strangled it. The night belonged
to them.
The only ones not directly under the Dolls’ umbrella, The Supersuckers played fast and furious, if not a little low
key. Generally a Supersuckers show can get pretty out
of control. But the band’s trademark arrogance — and
the skill to back it up — was still there. They dug out some early hits like
“Good Luck” and a killer cover of Willie’s “Bloody Mary Morning.”
The New York Dolls
were already rollin’ into “Looking For
A Kiss” when the curtain parted. David Johansen mugged and preened a lot
like the monkeys he’s prone to write about. Black-clad
Sylvain Sylvainpinballed
about the stage. The new guys in the band sounded better on the new
material, frankly because it’s theirs. When the band whipped out classics like
“Jet Boy” or “Trash” they played them better and tighter than the original band
ever did. And that’s the standard a lot of us still hold the Dolls to; a
standard that has left only two standing. Two rock ‘n’ roll legends standing,
playing just inches from my face. And as long as cats like Johansen and Sylvain
keep it rollin’ I’ll never find myself getting
nostalgic. I’ll never have to long for yesterday.
This article appears in Nov 22-28, 2006.
