On Sunday night October 21 psychobilly legends the Nekromantix were headlining at El Corazon. I’ve lost count now how many times I’ve seen Nekromantix, but I know I’ll see them again and again. I went to see these guys play (same venue) when I was in a wheel chair as I’d just had knee surgery. People kept moshing into me, not caring that I was in a wheel chair and some kind employee came and stood guard to prevent me from getting crushed. Such is my devotion to this band.
This night they hit the stage and immediately went nuclear. The stage should have exploded. Franc’s fingers manipulated his guitar strings so fast not only should his strings have melted, his whole guitar should have gone up in flames.
Not only did the band go nuclear, so did the crowd. Though not a sell-out, there were a fair bit of people in attendance for a Sunday night show and that fair bit were no slouches when it came to moshing. I felt like a pinball whenever someone would mosh into me and I’d fall into a woman in front of me and she’d shove me back into the moshing.
Nekromantix had a new drummer this time. Rene (Delamuerte) Garcia played standing up and sported black eyeliner that ran as he became more and more sweat drenched as the show went on and he slammed like a possessed demon.
Front man Kim Nekroman was in top form with his signature stand-up bass shaped like a child’s coffin and headstock in the shape of a cross. He often stopped to taunt or joke with the crowd, pretending to have a hissy fit when he was heckled. He held his bass upright, cradled it like a guitar or sat on the stage floor, even licking it, never missing a lick.
The show ended well after midnight and I had to be up at six. I drove home in fog so thick I couldn’t see five feet in front of me. A fitting end to a night of all things macabre.
Playing prior to Nekromantix was an amazing Russian outfit called Messer Chups. This mostly instrumental band played a range of styles from surf rock with more than a hint of horror as well as some more roots rock and straight up punk. Behind them was a large screen playing clips from old B&W American horror/sci-fil films. All members had a certain dynamic but it was bass player and only female member Zombierella who really stood out. She wore a mini leopard print dress with black fishnets and spike heels and had straight black hair a la Morticia Addams, but not as long. She performed most of what few vocals were included in the band’s songs, exhibiting a voice that was sweet and crisp, belying her macabre look. This is a band of stellar musicians and there was barely a still body in the house when they played. Judging by the overwhelmingly enthusiastic response of the crowd, I’d say they were enjoyed by all. I would love to see them come here and headline a show. The rest of Messer Chumps list themselves as, Oleg Guitaracula, , Dr Boris, and Rockin’ Eugene.
Before Messer Chups was a Seattle band called Drag Strip Riot. These guys packed a punch. Front man/guitarist (Steve “Knuck” Bostick) had a great stage dynamic as he churned out amazing power chords. Musically they ran the gamut from roots rock to psychobilly to straight up punk rock, often all three mixed together. I often heard more than a smattering of Ramones and Clash. The rest of Drag Strip Riot are, Jason “Frosty” Frost – Drums, Jimmy “Moose” Norvell – Guitar and Nate “The Man” Manning – Bass / Vocals. I will definitely check them out again.
Before Drag Strip Riot was another Seattle band, The Glaring. They were fronted by the band’s lone female member, Jessie, a woman with dark pigtails tinged purple on the bottoms. Her voice was powerful and gutsy but unfortunately the sound mix was poor and she was largely drowned out by the band’s loud punk power chords. The Glaring plays a more hard-core punk without going overboard on screamo. The remainder of the Glaring are, Josh- Lead Guitar, Colin- Rhythm guitar , Mike- Bass and Carl- Drums.
Having only gotten confirmation of press credentials an hour before show time, I didn’t make it in time to catch Butt Dial. I didn’t even know they were on the roster until someone at the club told me. I was pretty upset I missed them.
But missing Butt Dial was only a small pox on an otherwise very enjoyable night.
– All photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
[Holly Homan has seen and photographed Nekromantix at least seven times in the last handful of years. To see Nekromantix through the years, go here.]
