I would be doing them a disservice if I didn’t write a quick review of The Black Hollies who played as part of Scootergate at the Red and the Black on Saturday night. They were a late sign-on to the weekend so there wasn’t as much promotion as there should have been considering they were the by-far tightest group of musicians I have seen in years. You remember I work at a rock club sometimes, right? So that means I’ve seen many hundreds of shows, so that should tell you a bit about that previous statement.
Listen: I’m not really into the whole MOD thing. I know the music was good (it’s still inspiring people), but Scooter culture in the states really centers around it, so whenever I’ve just ridden 300 miles to go to a rally I can all but guarantee I’m going to attend a DJ night as part of the rally where they will play Northern Soul all night long.
It gets tiresome. I’ve threatened on more than one occasion to turn the DC rally into the first ever Ministry and Pailhead centered rally but haven’t gone through on it.
And yes, I do go to the WAG once a month because once a month is about my limit for 60’s soul, funk, etc, etc etc.
So that’s a little background so you know I’m not gushing for this band because they’re a style I adore, nor because they’re all over My Space and I’m a fringe hanging on to show people how cool I am (the Darkness anyone? Ooh, two digs on them in matter of hours).
The Black Hollies fucking rocked.
They played a 9 or 10 song set straight through. There was no bullshit banter between songs as they struggled to remember which 1 of 3 chords they were to start the next song off with, there was none of this “Hey I’m a rock star and a comedian and political activist and fuck George Bush!” nonsense that no one gives a fuck about. It was one song into another song into another.
And on that tangent of sorts: I could care less about a rock star’s politics than I do about having them “guest DJ” at after parties. I’m going to become a rock star then “guest DJ” some Bedrich Smetana all night long to show people how ridiculous a concept it is. (You’re welcome, Svet, for that shameless plug of your homeland’s music.) Oh sure, if you can get them to hang out at a club after that’s great, but marketing their DJ sets is gay.
And on another tangent: Bands that show up with pre-arranged encore songs written on their set lists. Fuck you. Bands that come out to do encores even when the crowd is leaving because you weren’t that great. Fuck you.
An encore should be all but begged for and you should throw it together at the last minute as an appreciation to your fans for what? Begging you for another song.
So back to the Black Hollies: Check out Paisley Pattern Ground
There’s the one download I will put up for two reasons: I’m computer illiterate and too lazy to figure out how to put in some kind of play list, (BYT is lucky most of my stuff isn’t mailed to them on typewritten pages) and because they’re too amazing live to be captured on vinyl or CD (of course I bought a CD, which, if you know me, know what a rarity it is for me to like a band enough to where I want to own their music forever (I have, like, 15 CDs). Nick Ferrante, the drummer, was possessed. There were three drummers from local bands in that crowd and they were googly-eyed at his drumming ability. Absolutely brilliant.
So you missed them this time around. Partly my fault for not promoting as much but I had a lot of shit to do.
You don’t have an excuse for the next time around.
