Horton's Holiday Hayride
2019:
5.6.7.8's, Voodoo Glow
Skulls, Dave Alvin, Reverend Horton Heat
The Paradise
December 5, 2019
Reverend Horton Heat
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The Reverend brought his annual antidote to HSAD
- Holiday Seasonal Affective Disorder - to the Paradise this past
Thursday night. Had I known it was gonna cook like that I would
have skipped my morning meds. It is a quirky bill on paper but
proves to be a hot mix in the end.
To my regret, I caught only three tunes (and no phone shots)
from the infrequent flying Japanese primitive surf punk gals,
5.6.7.8’s. Luckily, the count down from 10, shades
of Lux and Ivy as Tokyo doyenne’s riding a big wave, "Bomb
the Twist" is one of them. Hopefully, a full set of 5.6.7.8’s
is in all of our futures.
Voodoo Glow Skulls
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In spite of the bone and sax, skacore doesn’t do much for
me. That said, Voodoo Glow Skulls work the crowd
fast and hard. The horn section is a bit muddy in the mix but they
add slippery groove to the proceedings, especially on Misunderstood
. The closest VGS’s come to a Christmas tune is a run-through
of Leiber and Stoller’s "Charlie Brown". The pit
crowd has been trying to pull it together all night. They’re
twitchy and looking for a spark. The first riffs of "Insubordination"
lights them up. The energy keeps the pit in motion through the rest
of the bilingual set.
The Reverend takes to the stage in a snazzy red
sequenced tux to a slow, noir intro into a double-time second
verse of a twisting, jazzy version of" We Three Kings".
"Psychobilly Freakou"t lives up to its name. Drummer
Arjuna "RJ" Contreras and longtime
slap bassist Jimbo Wallace go through a lot of
gears in this set and they are smooth and agile from low to overdrive.
Reverend Horton Heat
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Most of the Christmas tunes are Texas swingin’. Inflatable
versions of Santa and Rudolph from the “64” TV show
keep watch on the stage all night. The band waltzes through Burl
Ives’ Silver and Gold from the perennial Christmas favorite.
"Big Red Rocket of Love" sends things back to the stratosphere.
Lance Lipinski on keyboards brings on Jerry Lee
- all flying fingers, elbows, feet and vocals. He’s a showboat
but has the killer chops to back it up as he rips through his
own "Move Move Move". The Reverend puns his way through
a litany of aging guy issues - acid reflux, sensible shoes, bad
back - on "Manopause Is Coming to Town".
Lance Lipinskil
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This would have been a great show as is - then Dave Alvin
joined the party. What a sound! Thick, just a bit of twang
and pushy as hell. Alvin’s tradeoffs with the Reverend contrasted
their styles and tone in ways that shine a bright light on both
their strengths. Alvin is a raconteur. A girl moves past her history
on "You’ve Changed" . The hero comes back to earth
on "Haley’s Comet" . You just know Johnny Ace will
end up dead. "Long White Cadillac" shuffles hard and gets
a lift from Lipinski’s keyboard licks. "Marie Marie"
gets a barrelhouse piano, brawny guitar solos that slip down into
a loose-limbed jam and a kick-ass zydeco juke joint twist, cha cha
cha.
When Alvin leaves the stage Heat says,
“I have to follow that!?” No problem. He blasts through
the catchy "Whole New Life" and the punked, stuttering
"400 Bucks" . The VGS’s horns join in for at tight-fitting
"Let Me Teach You How To Eat" and the pit rejuvenates.
Heat gets the "Galaxy 500" in the divorce settlement.
They go out with nods to two of the greats, Elvis on" Viva
Las Vegas" and the man of the hour on "Santa Claus Is
Coming to Town" .
Dave Alvin
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Dave Alvin
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Dave Alvin
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Jimbo and the Reverend
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Jimbo Wallace
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Lance Lipinskil
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Lance Lipinskil
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Reverend Horton Heat
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Reverend Horton Heat
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Reverend Horton Heat
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Reverend Horton Heat
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Rudolph
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Voodoo Glow Skulls
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Voodoo Glow Skulls
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