Reverend Horton Heat
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
http://www.reverendhortonheat.com/
Reverend Horton Heat Concert Photos
Friday, September 29, 2006
Stubb's Bar B Q (Austin, Texas)
also:
The Horror Pops
It's been said that, along with the Cramps, Reverend Horton Heat was one of the founders of the "psychobilly" genre. Combining a wicked sense of humor, a fine country twang, and a song list that sounds like it could be found in the discount 8-track carousels at finer truck stops everywhere, Dallas-based Reverend Horton Heat has been cranking out trailer park punk in Austin since the 80s in just about every live music venue in town.
Revving up the tour bus once again, the good Reverend made his customary Austin tour stop at Stubb's Bar B Q on Friday. The Reverend's reps were kind enough to supply me with a ticket to review the show, and thanks to Stubb's standard camera policies I was able to capture a few shots for the site with my little Point 'n' Shoot Fuji.
Opening the show was a Danish band called the Horror Pops, possibly best described as the offspring of some twisted breeding experiment between death metal and rockabilly gone horribly awry. They sure had a lot of fun onstage, and it was crowded up there with their backup singers/dancers. Musically they are definitely in the punkabilly genre and bear more than a passing resemblance to the band X, only a tad more poppy and bouncy. Plus lead singer Patricia Nekroman plays this enormous standup bass, and I believe I have mentioned before that I am a sucker for anyone with big strings. They played a great set and were a well chosen opener.
The venue was packed by the time the lights dimmed for the headliner. In a bright red jacket with blue flashing, the Reverend hit the stage to a crowd more than wamed up. They couldn't have been halfway through their first song before I saw the security crew chucking the first crowd surfer out. By the time they were into "Wigglestick" the mosh pit was threatening to engulf the entire area before the stage. I hung up in front of the P.A. for as long as I could stand it, before fading towards the back for a cold frosty beverage and some breathing room.
After about five or six songs, the band took a short set break before coming back with the Reverend dressed in black and continuing the set. I lost track of the number of songs and the set list, after wandering back up front and getting sucked into the mosh pit. Pocketing the camera I pushed and shoved and bopped and bounced with the best of them, eventually emerging at the end of the show hot, sweaty and tired but no worse for the wear. What a great show. Once again I ended up seeing lots of locals from the rockabilly scene as well as Austin's old punk community. Austin's alternative culture continues to thrive and it's great to see the old schoolers from back in the day attracting such a diverse and enthusiastic crowd.
