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Last Saturday night November 30, Seattle’s foremost punk club, El Corazon, hosted the legendary Dickies. Although I’ve been a Dickies fan since 1979, I never saw them live until two years ago. I was so impressed I went back for seconds last Saturday.
The Dickies play so fast live that it made it difficult at times to figure out what song they were playing. The sound quality against the stage was not great. It was much better at the back of the room. However, I did recognize Nights In White Satin and I still haven’t recovered from being slammed against the stage so ferociously during that song.
The Dickies are famous not only for playing really fast, but also for their tongue in cheek punk covers of songs like the aforementioned Nights, Black Sabbath’s Paranoid and a punk cover of the Gigantor theme song.
Front man, Leonard Graves Phillips, used several zany props during several of their songs including an inflatable doll (while wearing a scuba mask and snorkel), a dog puppet and the now infamous penis puppet, which he thrust into the audience for some fondling en masse. During said fondling the band began playing and singing the Who’s See Me Feel Me Touch Me Heal Me. At one point he showed up briefly in a gorilla mask. No doubt this was for their song You Drive Me Ape, You Big Gorilla, but as I said, it was difficult to decipher all the songs they performed. When not performing with props, he danced about the stage like an out of control marionette. The Dickies played for less than an hour before returning for an encore that included their famous rendition of The Banana Splits theme song. Other than their set being way too short, The Dickies were an absolute pleasure and a must see for any punk fan. I actually saw two young dudes there who couldn’t have been a day over fourteen years old, so I was heartened to see there’s a new generation into one of the bands that started the punk scene over three decades ago. The Dickies are, the aforementioned Phillips, Stan Lee on guitar, Little Dave Teague, also on guitar, Edward Tatar, bass guitar and Adam Gomez on drums.
Immediately preceding The Dickies was Seattle band Dreadful Children. Dreadful Children go by the names Lonnie Bristle (lead vocals and guitar), Johnny Mischief (bass), Berto McBertostein (rhythm guitar), and Sloppy Sam (drums). So while you digest that you’ll know this band has a sense of humor. And they ROCK! They came onstage all wearing matching black jeans and white button up shirts until suddenly about four songs in, they tore off the white shirts to reveal different t-shirts.
Singer Lonnie sported short bleached spiky hair and dark glasses. He constantly played up to the audience, riling them up. This is a band that’s about to break out of their Seattle cocoon and go places. I can sense it. Musically they’re all over the rock and roll map. I heard elements of the Toy Dolls, some metal and some Buzzcocks thrown in. To sum them up, Dreadful Children is part rabid dog, part raging lightning storm and part comedy act. They definitely worked the crowd so they were good and ready for the main course.
The band playing prior to Dreadful Children was another Seattle band called Go Like Hell. This five-piece included two women dressed scantily in leather and fishnet stockings. Their guitarist Luvlegs wasn’t to be upstaged by this. He’s a big bald dude who wore a black knit dress and rainbow stockings.
Go Like Hell is nothing less than amazing! Singer Alexi Void tantalized everyone close to the stage and at one point even asked some dude if he’d be her Lux Interior, then flicked her tongue at him. She often leaned into the crowd and at one point got on her knees and licked bass player BB Guns on her legs. For the end of their set she fell into the crowd, letting them carry her about while she continued bellowing into the mic. Besides the aforementioned, Go Like Hell is also Elvis Christ on lead guitar and Dick Whiskey on Drums. Did I mention Go Like Hell is an amazing band? I even overheard others in the audience proclaiming this.
Another excellent band preceding Go Like Hell was P.R.O.B.L.E.M.S. from Portland, OR. This band is pretty hard core but without the obnoxious screamo. They played fast and hard and loud and had a lot of hair. They were raw, they were manic, and they were chaos and total high energy fun. I highly recommend.
Opening the entire night was one of my local favorites — Poorsport. Max, Kyle, Ben and Skeeter are pop punk similar to the likes of Blink 182 or MXPX, but only because they play with quirky guitar hooks and memorable melodies that stick to your brain. Bassist Ben leaps and runs all over the stage almost non stop. If there were an award for most energetic bass player in a band, he’d win hands down. The minute they hit the stage and lit into their first song, people started streaming from the bar to get a closer look. Their hook-filled songs and endless charisma make Poorsport a winner.
All five bands on stage at El Corazon on November 30 were absolutely outstanding and I would recommend any of them and will be going to see them again for sure.
