04 March 2009

Stray Cats - LIVE - the band, not just cats roaming the streets.

Stray Cats – LIVE

Powerstation
Auckland
3-3-09

I was very fortunate to have heard about Stray Cats coming to NZ a little ahead of time thanks for a very hooked up friend in Australia that is absolutely a freak for Brian Setzer (guitarist / singer for SC). Of course it was my dream to be the opening band for the DC with my band The Voodoo Kreepers, but alas, we had pretty much ceased playing as a band and finding a drummer that fit our groove, just wasn’t as easy as one would hope. So, we put the idea on the back burner and that was that.

Fast forward several months and I still didn’t have a ticket for the show. I was a bit up in the air about the whole thing really. On one hand it was one of my favorite bands of all time and it is their last world tour. And on the other, it was $100 to go see them play in a dive of a venue. And being that im trying to save for my trip to aussie, I held off right up until the day of the show to buy my ticket.

Im really glad I did of course. Kiwi band ‘Labretta Suede and The Motel 6’ were the openers for the night. And they blasted through a great set and even got a couple of dancer girls during their tune ‘Boogaloo’, which was even more eye candy than watching Labretta parade around in her sexy lingerie. Mind you, nothing beats the raw sexual energy of watching Johnny Moondog with his low-slung guitar grinding away with reckless abandon. Pure magic. Good show guys. A few pictures are included at the start for your visual pleasure.

Once Labretta was done, it was all about the Roadies. Yes, they quickly started around getting the stage set, although it was already ready before, but I guess roadies just need that bit of attention to make them selves feel special about being jerks (im speaking of these guys in particular, not all roadies, these guys were jerks, arrogant to every degree).

Anyhow the lights went down as the Stray Cats stumbled onto stage casually and donned their instruments and BAM, it was all on. It was a great show. They kicked out some classics, opening the show with Rumble in Brighton. But they then kicked into several tunes, which (sad to say it) no one really knew. They danced and clapped obligingly of course, but it was easy to tell the Cats weren’t really feeling the vibe from the crowd. I guess they’re used to performing to crowds of thousands, and not about 800, which is my guess for last night’s crowd, maybe a little less.

It was still kool to see and hear tunes like ‘Stray Cat Strut’, ‘Sexy and 17’ and ‘Gene and Eddie’, but there was a lot of stuff missing off the list that after 17 years of not playing here, you would think they would have at least gone through the effort to give us more for our money. But hey, at least I can now say ‘I’ve seen the Stray Cats play live’.

One other thing that grates me a little is that in speaking to friends in Australia, the Cats played a lot longer over there and really got into it. They even did 2 lots of encores and played all their hits. Kind of made me feel like we’re nothing but the red headed stepson that no one loves. Damn it. Hahahaha. Oh well. It was still a kool night

Off to see Old Crow Medicine Show tonight. Really looking forward to seeing them play




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