This past weekend the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge
hosted a rock n’ roll show consisting of three bands that are all headliners in
their own right. I went to see Sasquatch
& The Sickabillies, a band I’ve always loved, being a New England girl, and
hadn’t seen in a long time. But, this
was a Sickabillies show like no other, as the psychobilly trio opened for hard rock legends Nashville
Pussy and the “greatest rock n’ roll band in the world,” the Supersuckers.
The Sickabillies set the night off properly, shying away
from that dreaded “rockabilly” label given to all bands whose lead singer has a
pompadour. Lead vocalist and guitarist
Sasquatch, with his throaty, driving vocals and superb guitar prowess concocted
a set combining country, punk, and metal into a raw, raunchy fusion of rock n’
roll ideology. Though it was a heavily
male-dominated crowd at the Middle East, the Sickabillies prepared any
unsuspecting pin-curl girls in the audience for what they were about to witness
the rest of the night. The Sickabillies’ version of the Vince Taylor
classic “Brand New Cadillac,” though often associated with greaser car culture,
is hardly the Clash’s or Brian Setzer’s version. It’s sped up to a heart-pounding pace, and somehow
fits into a set that also included lyrics like “I am what I eat, from my head to my feet, I guess you could call me a pussy.”
Like I said, faint of heart be warned: this is rock n’ roll.
As Nashville Pussy, the hard rock quartet from Atlanta, took
the stage, the crowd shifted into bar fight mode. With Eddie Spaghetti of the Supersuckers
filling in on bass, Blaine Cartwright, Ruyter Suys, and Jeremy Thompson delved
into fist-pumping crowd favorites like “High As Hell.” I had been previously skeptical of Nashville
Pussy, partially because they’re so damn intimidating and partially because,
growing up in New Hampshire, I was getting tired of the “redneck rock” thing. I’m a discriminating musician, and a proud
music snob, but I have to say: they won me over. Though I’m sure Ruyter Suys would beat me in
an arm wrestling match, she sure is a charismatic guitarist. She’s the most passionate member of the group,
throwing herself to the ground in a frenzy as she blazes through solo after
solo. Looking out at the crowd, it’s
easy to see that the people closest to Ruyter’s side of the stage are the ones
most engaged in the show, throwing their hands up.
A superb night of chanting, moshing, and throwing beer on
people had only begun when The Supersuckers began their set. I’ve been to shows where it’s hard to tell
who is the opener and who is the headliner by just looking at the lineup. This was one of those shows. The Supersuckers had to try pretty hard to
upstage Nashville Pussy, but they narrowly pulled it off. For a rebel-rousing, “I don’t care” kind of
band, they put on a pretty polished show.
Lead Singer Eddie Spaghetti dons his uniform of cowboy hat and aviator
sunglasses, while he and his guitarists move in coordinated rhythms back and
forth on the stage. And, their main
objective is to assure that everybody in the crowd goes nuts and has a great
time. They slashed through songs
like “Coattail Rider” “Hell City Hell” and “Pretty Fucked Up”—during which a positively
sauced female fan trotted happily onto the stage before being tossed back into
the crowd by security.
As the crowd got rowdier towards the end of the gig, I got
slammed into a railing, on which I hit my neck hard. Lucky for me, I wasn’t injured, and I got to
get up onto the backstage ramp for the rest of the show to avoid getting crushed
by a crowd of drunk 6’5’’ dudes slamming into each other. There I got some awesome shots, including
this one of Eddie leading the crowd at the end of the concert:
This was a positively American rock n’ roll show. Eddie Spaghetti, insisting that it wouldn’t
be over until they had “properly rocked,” indulged the crowd with a set that
included an encore with no off-stage break in between. The set ended with the Supersuckers classic “Born
With A Tail,” as the pumped crowd threw their middle fingers in the air. It was a pleasant surprise to get such a
great lineup and raucous crowd in the otherwise fairly quiet Boston ‘burbs. For three groups that may well pride
themselves on being vulgar and loud, these are also bands that don’t play games
with their fans. They respect their
crowd, they play all the hits everybody wants to hear, and their greatest pride
comes from knowing the crowd is having a blast.
The Supersuckers are
touring the west coast through December.
Check out their tour dates at http://www.supersuckers.com/tour.cfm
For a list of upcoming shows at the Middle East in
Cambridge, visit http://www.mideastclub.com/
