First up for both nights was Peter Buck’s new live group Richard M. Nixon. RMN (how close those letters sound to REM) are about as far away musically to REM as you could imagine. They mostly play a steady R&B with some real hot guitar playing (Scott McCaughey, Kurt Bloch and of course Peter Buck all playing guitar — no wonder it was hot). Peter’s voice sounds like he gobbles bricks before going on stage — the perfect voice for the R&B based songs they performed. One song called “Outta the House” was a very poppy, lively song that kept Kurt Bloch doing his famous mini leaps just like he’s done for the last thirty plus years. Peter Buck will be releasing a solo album very soon (word is it’s initially coming out only on vinyl), but it will only be entitled Peter Buck and not Richard M. Nixon. Keep your eyes peeled and if you missed them at the Sunset, do catch them next time they play. They’re a blast.
The Needful Longings from Portland, OR were up next. I’d never heard of this band before. I am now in love with this band. Needful Longings are the combined forces of embers of Crackerbash, Dharma Bums, Barnaby Woods and Guided By Voices and they put on one hell of a show.
Their singer is lanky, bald and sports over sized black rimmed glasses and sounds like he swallows sugar cubes laced with shards of broken glass. He jerks about the stage as if electrical impulses are shooting through his entire body. This band is about as un-rock-star-looking as you could imagine, but their music defies their image. Needful Longings are fab!
We didn’t stay for the YFF since they were playing again the following night so here is the review for Saturday night’s show.
The real stars of the night had to be Girl Trouble. According to my records I saw Girl Trouble at the Paramount as part of Rocket Magazine’s 10th anniversary show, but I have no recollection of that show. Known as the girl who put the girl in Girl Trouble, drummer Von Wheelie currently looks like she was the model for the Swiss Miss products with long blond braids jutting down under her black knit cap.
When he asked the crowd to give a hand to Richard M. Nixon he quipped that that was probably the only time in the band’s thirty-year history that he’d be able to get applause by mentioning the name Richard M. Nixon. About half way through the show he told the story of how he begged Jim Sangster to let Girl Trouble open for them at the famous Tropicana club in Olympia (my own bro Curt ran that club way back in the early eighties). He went on to say that if they got the opening gig he’d take his shirt off. Sangster happen to be standing next to me and was as amused as I was when Kendall pulled his shirt off to reveal a rather ample beer belly. Without a hint of shame, he looks over at Sangster, rubs his beer belly, and says, “Take a good look, Jimmy, because it’s probably yours.” First pix are of YFF
When he played the maracas, he pranced around the stage shaking them at other band members, reminding me ever so much of Monty Python’s fish slapping sketch.
I cannot think of too many other bands who are this entertaining. They were definitely the life of the party.
The Young Fresh Fellows came on at last to a now thoroughly entertained and warmed up crowd. Not lookin’ so young any more, but their music is still fresh and they still act like naughty school boys, so the name is still apt. They were full of their usual quips and antics that they’ve been so famous for over the last thirty years. Drummer Tad attached a box of doggie Milk Bones to one of his cymbals and banged away at it until he removed it two songs later. I’m not sure what it is with Tad and dogs. I once saw him perform half a set wearing a dog’s head mask.
They performed some songs from their new album, which sounded damn fine, along with old stuff like “Amy Grant” (She comes home from work and takes off her pants. That’s what I like about Amy Grant). Never one to be upstaged, Tad Hutchison sits on his drums or uses them as footrests without missing a beat. He uses what looks like melted cast iron pans roosted above his kit and bangs on them hard enough that he has to dodge the onslaught when they swing back. At one point he even used maracas for drumsticks. Chuck Carroll even joined them to play keys and then guitar. Seeing the Fellows again sent me spiraling down memory lane. They sang the Young Fresh Fellows theme, a raucous cover of “Hang On Sloopy” and “Born To Be Wild.” Scott McCaughey screamed into the mic like a wild animal and literally went wild on stage and actually jumped into the audience, still singing into the mic, before leaping back onto the stage.
After saying earlier that they never do encores, they came back for an encore that included my all-time favorite, “Rock and Roll Pest Control!” I’d been looking so forward to this show. As much as I love going to see the new bands and seeing what the “young ‘uns” are up to, these trips down memory lane are special and so are these bands. What a fun two nights this was.
More video from the weekend may be found here.
