It’s a hot Friday night in Seattle and the beginning of the long holiday weekend. Mustard Plug is headlining a show at El Corazon. I’ve been waiting a long time to see Mustard Plug and they didn’t disappoint.
Everyone in this band is a showman, but particularly front man/singer Dave Kirchgessner. This guy NEVER stayed in one place for more than one second — no exaggeration. He constantly leaned over the stage edge, shoving the mic into the audience who happily obliged him by singing along. At one point he pulled a giant plastic cleaver from his pants, leaped off the stage and started dancing with the fans and mocking slashing their throats.
Often guitarist Colin Clive took over on lead vocals except the sound mix was so bad I could barely hear his voice. Jim Hofer, trombone and Brandon Jenison, trumpet constantly put on moves when they weren’t blowing their horns or singing harmony. Drummer Nate Cohn banged his skins so manically he broke a sweat before the first song was finished. Meanwhile bass player Rick Johnson kept things steady.
When the band left the stage, the crowd continually yelled, “We want the mustard! We want the mustard,” until the band returned for another half hour.
There was not a single instance in that entire set where there weren’t several people skanking or moshing. I found myself slammed about a bit more than once.
Just prior to Mustard Plug, Seattle’s own Regional Faction played. Regional Faction have just become a trio, where before they were a quartet. Everyone knows how Doctor Who’s time machine is bigger on the inside. Well, Regional Faction is the opposite. They’re bigger on the outside. In other words, this trio packs a mighty punch, spewing loud, grungy and gritty music, leaving me scratching my head as to how three people could make such a big sound. At first they started out rather slow, but following The Kings was probably quite intimidating. The Kings are a hard act to follow. But they hit their stride by about the third song and once they loosened up, I found them full of raw punk power and exuding energy and charm. Regional Faction are, Tyler – guitar / lead vox, Jeff – bass / back up vox,Tim – drums.
The band who nearly upstaged the main act was Seattle ska band, The Kings. This time they had Adam Bruno from the Georgetown Orbits filling in on trumpet, but the stage antics The Kings are getting famous for were completely in tact. Watching this band perform is like being in the front car of a roller coaster. They’re non-stop fun and you don’t want to blink lest you miss some crazy stunt pulled by any one of the members.
Ryan, who plays the keys, sings lead on most the songs while performing on stage antics, keeping his fingers constantly on the keyboard. He wore dark glasses and a red bandanna tied around his head the entire time. But it’s sax player Dan who almost stole the show. This guy is non-stop. He was all over the stage, spinning, dancing, flitting about, all while blowing his horn with everything he had. Anyone who’s a fan of ska and/or just a fan of fun bands to watch, check out the Kings. The Kings are, Jack – Drums/ Jens – Guitar/ Ryan – Vox and Keys/ Ziko -Trombone (but replaced this time by the aforementioned Adam Bruno)/ Herschell – Trumpet/ Dan – Saxophone and Andrew – Bass.
Preceding The Kings was another Seattle band, Dead Bars. There was a lot of onstage energy in this quintet. By all appearances they seem to be a young band (by my standards). Maybe they were thirty. With gutsy vocals and a raw guitar sound, combined with catchy melodies, they reminded me quite a bit of New Found Glory. In their band, C.J. is the drummer/guitarist, Blom plays guitar, David rocks his guitar, and Ray, perhaps named for Ray Davies of the Kinks, summons thunder from the mountains on his mighty, mighty bass.
Starting out the whole evening was another Seattle power trio, The Botherations. There wasn’t a lot of audience interaction or zany showmanship with this band, but they were a very tight, well rehearsed unit. I did note some movers on the dance floor, though at this point, very few had shown up.
All in all a very fun night, albeit boiling hot and bad sound and bad lighting. The bands all put on excellent performances.
– All photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
