By DJ Astrocreep
A fourth gig in five days sees me finally catch the enigmatic Redd Kross live, with able support from Melvins kit man Dale Crover playing solo, something which I had somehow missed prior to the show! A punktastic clash of The Undertones playing a venue literally a half mile from Arts Club means attendance would undoubtedly be lower than usual. Time to see how much!
The only disappointment I get from Crover’s set is the low turnout. While he is playing solo material, he has never been a mainstream band man and he still makes an impressive noise as one man and his acoustic tonight. His solo work still has elements you would expect from a Melvins founder and is genuinely enjoyable.
That he finds time to add ‘The Bit’ to the set is the icing on the cake of a well played performance, far more in the spotlight than he often would be behind the kit in his more usual role. Despite the low numbers, his work goes down well and he deservedly gets some applause at the end of his set.
Redd Kross are natural raconteurs and even as much as everyone enjoys their music, their stories and stage banter work well during retunes and the likes. Whether it’s a story of them planning a live séance after the gig in their lodgings or another story, they’re on fine form all round! The set itself is really tight, well played and well rehearsed and shows how seriously they are taking every show. Their surf punk is absolutely infectious and even when people aren’t singing along, heads and feet are moving away.
In terms of song choice, the catalogue is well spread out. While there will always be a number of songs from a new record that they’re touring to promote, the choices fit seamlessly into a coherent set. Dale Crover is also back out, behind the kit this time and adds a strong backbeat with his Animal like presence on the drums.
The musicianship is absolutely top notch all round and in true surf punk style, the 100 or so that have made their choice to join me this evening, ignoring other musical pleasures, are all absolutely swept away by such a highly energetic and enjoyable performance.
While we get the likes of ‘Stay Away From Downtown’ and ‘Uglier’ quite early in the set, we also get the new theme tune to ‘Emanuelle Insane’, on only its second live outing. It still comes across just as well rehearsed and tight as their longer established back catalogue. ‘Candy Coloured Catastrophe’ and ‘Peach Kelli Pop’ again highlight just how much dedication has gone into pre-tour rehearsals again as we get to the end of the main set before it comes to a cacophonous conclusion.
We have time for the likes of ‘Annette’s Got The Hits’ and ‘Clorox Girls’ in a five song encore, bringing a superb show to a brilliant end with a cover of Osmond’s hit ‘Crazy Horses’ as our penultimate track. A lot of people have definitely missed out with this show.
- The tour continues:
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