Anonymous Willpower
set its phasers to stun and ripped out a wicked set
of rock ‘n’ roll Friday night at Three Heads Brewing. The band can play
anything, as all its members are bad-ass utility players, well-versed in
everything. From the Big Easy to something a little sleazy, AW positively
rocks. I see this band in your future.
***
Trust me, I checked to make sure Laverne Baker was dead. Sure
enough, the singing sensation went to her reward back in 1997. So it’s quite
possible I was seeing her ghost. The billboards at Abilene all credited Tammi
Savoy as the one delivering the joyful noise from the bandstand for this Sunday
matinee show, but I had my suspicions. She was joined onstage by Chris Casello, or the ghost of Mickey Baker (I checked: He’s dead
too, since 2012).
The music they
played was so much fun, it had the crowd sporting extra-wide
Cheshire grins. Original strollers and bebop boppers augmented a generous set
of stuff by Baker, Sarah Vaughan, and Ruth Brown. A hepcat
highlight happened when Savoy was joined onstage by her 11-year-old daughter
for a jumpin’ version of The Collins Kids’ “Hop,
Skip, and Jump.” And Casello is one of the best
rockabilly and swing guitar players I’ve seen in a long, long while. But it was
his vibrato-drenched send-up of The Viscounts’ “Harlem Nocturne” that positively
knocked me dead with its bluesy, irresistible grind. Further details can be
found in my obituary.
***
Sole Rehab’s “Make
It Twerk” dance party was a drag — in a good way — Sunday night at Photo City,
with some of the tallest queens I’ve ever seen. The throb of the music moved the
crowd that packed the joint, full of muscles and mascara. As I left, I could
see the steam heat rolling out of the club, as if it were a Turkish bath.
This article appears in Sep 4-10, 2019.
