The
Chesterfield Kings have obviously learned at the feet of the rock ‘n’ roll
masters, as they proved once again to about 500 fans at Water Street Music Hall
two Saturdays ago. The show was loud and loose as always, with Paul Morabito
laying down some fantastic guitar. They’re finally letting the boy shine. And I
just love when Prevost honks on the harp.
Co-headlining the Christmas
extravaganza were Pittsburgh’s Get Hip gurus, The Cynics. Nobody does fast, tight, borderline violent garage rock
better than they do. I can remember about 10 years ago hearing the Cynics do a
version of Johnny Thunders’ “Born To Lose.” It was wintertime and I was heading
north on Chestnut attempting to pull a U-turn. Well, the song got me so razzed
I overshot the curb and blew out two tires, permanently damaging the rims. The
Cynics consistently recreate that thrill every time I see them.
And though guitarist Greg Kostelich
moves even less than The A-Bones’ Marcus The Carcass, the energy was intense
and spilled continually into the audience. Singer Mike Kastelic (Cindy
Crawford’s fave) whipped himself into a frenzy amidst the gone crowd and
go-going girls.
The highlight of the show — besides
the aforementioned bouncin’ babes — had to be the psychedelic liquid
projection light show provided by Dick
“The Dancing Record” Storms. It seems Storms learned at the feet of the
masters as well. Back in 1967, in San Francisco, when he was a roadie for
Quicksilver Messenger Service (and never used drugs as far as his teenage
daughter knows), he learned the mineral oil, food coloring, and water
projection trick they called “The Black Shit Puppy Farm” while hanging around
the Straight Theatre on Haight Street.
The
Rainy Day Saints, St. Phillip’s
Escalator (definitely the band to watch in ’05), and Boston’s The Charms were the ones to get the
jingle ball at the Water Street show — but I didn’t catch them. Ani Difranco detained me.
As always, Difranco sold the hell out
of the Auditorium Theatre. Show opener Dan
Bern apparently found a way to out-liberal the liberals. I mean, you’d
think this was a pretty left-leaning crowd, what with the dreadlocks, Birkenstocks,
and anti-animal cruelty videos everywhere, but Bern earned himself a few boos
when he described World War III as “everybody against America,” referring to
himself as a possible insurgent. Lighten up, hippies.
I was particularly keen on seeing
Difranco since her new CD, Knuckle Down — which I really liked with the first spin — was produced by Joe Henry, an
illusive genius who has floored me with his production, guitar playing, and
songwriting on albums like The Reverend Solomon Burke’s Have A Little Faith In Me and his own stuff like Tiny Voices. Unfortunately, she showed
up with just an upright bass player in tow. Hey, stripped-down is nice, but it
would’ve been cool to hear the new stuff fleshed out ala Henry.
I actually enjoyed most of the KISS 98.5 Kissmas Bash at Buffalo’s
HSBC Arena this past Friday. Approximately 13,000 13-year-old girls and their
moms screamed their heads off for Seven
Day Faith, Skye Sweetnam, Gavin
DeGraw, A Simple Plan, Vanessa Carlton, Benji & Joel from Good Charlotte, Jo Jo (who I missed missed), Avril
Lavigne, and Switchfoot.
It’s easy to tease this new wave of
would-be punkers, but Good Charlotte’s Benji and Joel came across cooler and
rawer in their acoustic format than with the pop goo that gunks up their
records.
Avril Lavigne has a lot of potential
as well. She’s writing her own stuff and playing her own guitar — and that’s
a lot for a young lady these days. Just remember, when you get ready to slag
her efforts, you weren’t always as cool as you are now.
Skye Sweetnam was a tarted-up
pederast’s dream bounding around like a teenage boy toy. It was fluffy pop with
a dangerous body image message, especially if you’ve got kids.
Gavin DeGraw is gonna go places. The
boy’s got the chops, the voice, and an “aw shucks” way about him that just
melts a girl’s heart. And the boy proved he’s got soul when he threw out a
little Sam Cooke and The Staple Singers — all stuff that maybe even the young
moms in the crowd hadn’t heard.
Vanessa Carlton played sweet and solo
on the piano and will no doubt spawn a wave of girls wearing frilly gowns and
Doc Martens to their proms this year.
A Simple Plan sounded like every
other happy-whiny band I’ve heard lately. So did Seven Day Faith, whose singer
looked like he works out more than he practices his singing. C’mon man, gimme
some edge.
San Diego’s Switchfoot delivered that
edge. And though the kids dig them, this is a pretty advanced, epic form of
rock ‘n’ roll that fits perfectly in big arenas. Cell phones (the new lighters)
were held high during the band’s five-song set — half of which singer Jon Foreman
sang with his fly down.
This article appears in Dec 22-28, 2004.
