Desert Mountain Tribe, Bauhaus

Live Ones, Stop Calling Me Frank,
Bunch of Jerks

February 15 & 16, 2019

Bauhaus

The Friday afternoon road trip down Rt. 9 - even with a 4:30 start - took almost two hours. Desert Mountain Tribe open with phase and delay guitar and tribal drum English psych in the “Little Johnny’s sad and fucked…” vein. They do a fine job elevating the early arrivals. The last tune of the set pushes the ante on everything as it swirls up and out through the hole in the Ozone layer.

Bauhaus (Peter Murphy and David J., alas not Daniel Ash) are touring behind the 40th anniversary (feel old here) of their seminal In the Flat Field lp.

Like Murphy’s voice, both the disk and the show have a patina but have aged well. The mix is decent but slightly muddy in a way that detracts a smidge from the vocals and guitar. "In The Flat Field", "Dive", "Stigmata Martyr" and "St. Vitus Dance" rock and howl. Murphy’s lithe bent frame, fever dream slow theatrics, and Mark of the Devil inquisitor posing - especially the mic stand crux immissa crucifixion - keep the eyes engaged. Where Ash’s fits and start guitar strangulations were endlessly inventive, Mark Thwaite’s efforts preferred grind over stab. The mix didn’t help in this area.

Bauhaus

The show was solid, Murphy chill and charming with the crowd. There were highs and no real lows it just never jumped off the edge. Burning From the Inside gave David J. some low-end lead time. Bela Lugosi is indeed undead. The three song encore took it way slow. King Volcano had some cool crown visuals but following up with Kingdom Come and Dead Can Dance’s Severance left one longing for a rave-up on T Rex’s Telegram Sam or better still, Eno’s Third Uncle. There should be a rule about never giving a lead singer a melodica.

Stop Calling Me Frank

On Saturday afternoon the Midway Matinee kept its string of good time bashes alive. I arrived just in time to catch the last two New York, primordial pre-punk numbers by The Live Ones. Singing drummers must have extra wires in their brains. The crowd was twitching. We’ve talked about both A Bunch of Jerks and Stop Calling Me Frank recently. On this afternoon B of J’s two poppiest tunes, Boxing Turtles and Camping Weekend throw off hints of Spring just over the horizon. SCMF keep the party rocking with dance-able, horn honking Boston rock. Why am I such a sucker for Whiskey in a Jar?

Bauhaus

Bauhaus

Bauhaus

Bauhaus

Bauhaus

Bauhaus

Bauhaus

Bauhaus

Bauhaus

Bauhaus

Stop Calling Me Frank

Stop Calling Me Frank

Stop Calling Me Frank

Stop Calling Me Frank

Stop Calling Me Frank

Stop Calling Me Frank

Stop Calling Me Frank

Stop Calling Me Frank

Stop Calling Me Frank

A Bunch of Jerks

A Bunch of Jerks

A Bunch of Jerks

A Bunch of Jerks

A Bunch of Jerks

A Bunch of Jerks

A Bunch of Jerks

Joanie and Danny. What's in the can?

Live Ones

Live Ones

Stop Calling Me Frank and Beans