Saturday night March 9, Tacoma’s Alma Mater club was the place to be for anyone hip enough to know that Girl Trouble was playing. But this was no ordinary Girl Trouble show. This was their 35th anniversary extravaganza of being a band. Thirty-five years later and just as energetic and just as entertaining as ever.
Preceding Girl Trouble’s performance there were four Girl Trouble tribute bands, each one featuring one member of Girl Trouble playing their respective instruments.
So by the time Girl Trouble hit the stage, the audience was thoroughly warmed up.
Girl Trouble is fronted by the perpetual class clown, KP. He would have been the class clown that made everyone, including the teacher, laugh. He strutted about the stage often leaning into the crowd who were only too willing to encourage his zany antics. At one point he leaned over to kiss two very willing women on the mouth. He returned to the stage to tell them jokingly (I would hope) that he had Simplex II.
Adding to the Girl Trouble show was the presence of two Go-Go dancers, who started out in the sidelines, but as the show wore on, ventured out to the stage to mingle with band members where one of them danced a pas de deux with KP. Both these talented ladies danced without letting up for the entire GT performance.
Girl Trouble also has the unusual trait of having a female drummer (Bon Von Wheelie). Not only does she drum like a master, she has managed the band’s affairs from the onset. KP led the crowd in praising her with chants of, Bon Von Wheelie!
Kahuna (Bill Henderson) is the band’s guitar whiz, churning out cords as he writhed and twisted and made facial contortions. Bass player Dale Phillips played the perfect straight guy adding to the band’s appeal.
The highlight had to be their stunning rendition of the Cramps’ Goo Goo Muck.
As mentioned, Girl Trouble’s set was preceded by tribute bands playing Girl Trouble songs. The band playing just prior to GT was KP’s GT. This featured KP on vocals and he was manic as ever, strutting about the stage like a drunken peacock, grunting and growling into his cordless mic, goading the audience into a frenzy. Almost from the get go he ripped off his white button up shirt and pranced about shirtless for both this set and the Girl Trouble set. Joining him was a group of stellar musicians (Brian Alcid on guitar, Tony Daniels on bass, and Larry Feaster on drums.
The Von Wheelie Express played prior to KP’s GT and of course featured Von Bon Wheelie on drums. But what really stood out was the showmanship of vocalist Isaiah Tankiewicz. He too strutted about the stage stopping only long enough to do on stage somersaults all while belting out the songs. He too whipped off his shirt to dance topless. The guitar player (Sam Olsen) looked a bit like Paul McCartney while bass player Bill Schlanbusch had that classic rock star aura about him.
I arrived late just as Dale Phillips Girl Trouble Revival was hitting the stage. This unit of course featured Dale Phillips on bass, but featured Del Brown on vocals. Not only did she have pipes that rivaled any of the top blues singers of yore, she was a bottomless pit of charisma. When she wasn’t belting out songs, she was dancing about the stage, charisma brimming over constantly. As great as this band was, she stole the show. Girl Trouble Revival also featured John Ramberg on guitar and Doug Mackey on drums. Again, stellar musicianship.
Since I arrived late I missed Kahuna’s All Girl Tribute to Girl Trouble which featured Kahuna on guitar, Mara Funk on vocals, Gwen Lewandoski on bass and Danaca Tomas on drums. I’m sorry I missed them (I got a bit lost trying to find the club).
Between bands two MCs (Jimmy May & Stu Michaels) got on stage to tell corny jokes and introduce the next act. They were every bit as entertaining as the bands were.
This show was completely sold out, which backs up my claim that this was the place to be for anyone who was hip and in the Tacoma vicinity. I traveled all the way from North Seattle, nearly an hour’s drive, to witness this historic event. Even driving home at midnight and staggering home at one a.m., wouldn’t deter me from doing this again in a heart-beat. This was one very entertaining evening. Girl Trouble never disappoints, but this evening was something special. There were a number of events happening on this very night and I know I made the right choice.
– All photos property of Holly Homan, all rights reserved.
