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The Bad Dudes, King Dapper Combo, and The Legion of the Incredibly Strange
Superheroes
Coffinberry, The Rogers Sisters, and Einstein's Secret Outlaws
The Bad Dudes, King Dapper Combo, and The
Legion of the Incredibly Strange Superheroes
The Lime Spider
12-13-02
There was a pretty good crowd at The Lime Spider to see
the latest musical project from Michael "Zombo" Devine. The Legion of
the Incredibly Strange Superheroes are every bit as goofy as their name
would imply. The band played a fun set of retro rock 'n' roll and surf
instrumentals, most of which were originals tied in with the superhero
theme. They also did some fun covers, including "Goo Goo Muck" (not
sure who did it originally, but The Cramps do a rockin' version) and Devo's
"Girl U Want". There was also audience participation in the form of
hula hoops and cardboard robot costumes.
Next up was Zombo's other band,
The King Dapper Combo.
The Combo specialize in covering fifties and sixties novelty songs, usually
with a monster theme. With the Halloween season over the band mixed
things up a bit, though, mixing songs like "Booze Party" and "Little Latin
Lupe Lu" in the set with "The Graveyard Cha Cha" and of course "The Monster
Mash". They also did my personal favorite in their repertoire, "Rat
Fink" (not the Misfits song, but the theme from a really awful movie called
'Rat Fink-A-Boo-Boo'). Sure, they're hopelessly square, but that's
part of their appeal.
The Bad Dudes were essentially an opening band stuck
with the thankless job of trying to keep patrons drinking until the bar
closed. Unfortunately about half the audience had already left before
they even played a note. When they did start playing, I have to say I
wasn't too impressed. The band played well, but there wasn't anything
very interesting about them. Just middle of the road rock 'n' roll and
blues rock.
For pictures, click
here.
Coffinberry, The Rogers Sisters, and Einstein's Secret Outlaws
The Lime Spider
12-16-02
It was a Monday night show, not exactly a big bar
night, but the 20 or so people who came out for this show were treated to
three excellent and very different performances.
ESO, one of my
favorite area bands, were minus a couple guitar players from the last time
I'd seen them (though not permanently), and band leader Chas Smith was
playing keyboards instead of bass. The result was a moodier, more laid
back set than what the group typically plays at festivals and Subgenius
devivals. After opening with an uptempo version of The Monkees "Steppin'
Stone", ESO switched gears for a few originals I haven't heard the band play
before, including the Velvet Underground influenced "Big Sky (That Should Be
Me)". They also did a version of Roy Orbison's "Mystery Girl" that
emphasized the song's darker qualities, sounding almost like Nick Cave
having a pass at the tune. The set came to a close with a particularly
rocking version of the ESO original "Arizona".
The Rogers Sisters were playing the last gig of a short
tour, and despite the small crowd they gave a solid performance.
Stylistically the band was in the indie rock/post punk vein, blending
traditional pop song structures with abrasive trebly guitar and a powerful
rhythm section. The actual sisters handled the drums and guitar, with
the bass player (clearly not a sister) sharing lead vocals with the
guitarist. This was the first time I'd ever heard of this band, but I
wouldn't mind catching them again.
Most of the small crowd stayed right through to the
end, a wise choice since Coffinberry's set of energetic melodic yet raw
garage/punk/pop was worth it. They were definitely the most active
band to play this night, moving as much as they could on the small stage
while banging out the tunes. Coffinberry's material mixed punk
attitude with pop sensibility for a sound both edgy and accessible.
They closed their set with the only song of theirs I knew before hand, the
infectious "The Spins" which you can download from the band's
website.
For pictures, click
here.
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