Swish
08-04-2007, 01:52 PM
Seven of us headed to the World Cafe in Philly last night to see Stan and his band during their tour that is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Wall of Voodoo record 'Call of the West'. This venue is truly awesome, small and modern, with great seats everywhere. The main function is live music, but it also serves full dinners along with starters and sandwiches and the like, and it has a great bar. They wait staff will continue to serve you throughout the night, so no need to leave your seat for your next beer, and the food is pretty good too. We had our tickets to this one as soon as they went on 'pre-sale' for members only (a friend is a member. The club is owned in partnership with public radio station WXPN) and we got primo mezzanine seating that offers a great view of the band and plenty of room to move around before and during the show.
The opener was a Philly band called 'Bunny Drums', and they've been around for many years, or so I'm told. I assume the name is a non-so-subtle reference to Echo and the Bunnymen because their style was very similar, with some Thin White Rope and Chameleons thrown in for good measure. A solid wall of guitars blasting out dark, foreboding songs with a vocalist who sounds dark and foreboding. Pretty good stuff for the most part, and not the usual boring fare you hear before the main course.
They were playing a lot of nice tunes over the PA before and after the opening act; lots of old English Beat, along with some reggae I didn't recognize, but as soon as they started playing the Marty Robins classic 'El Paso', we knew Stan and his mates were about to appear, and we were right. Stan was out front, of course, playing harmonica and guitar. To his right was Pietra Wexstun on the keyboards, to his left was guitarist Rick King, and behind him drummer Joe Berardi. No bass player needed, thank you, at least most of the time. King played bass once or twice I believe, but the keys took over that function most of the time.
Their first tune was 'Call of the West', the title track from that great record, and it set the tone for plenty of Wall of Voodoo material throughout the night. Next up was another title track but from one of Stan's solo records, 'The Big Heat', which has always been my favorite Stan song. While I'll never remember the order of the rest of the songs they played during the main set and three, yes three, encores, I do remember these WOV songs; Factory, Lost Weekend, On Interstate 15, Mexican Radio (I understand he hates playing that one), Spy World, and these Stan Ridgway songs; Camouflage, Peg and Pete and Me, Barbecue, Lonely Town (another fave of mine with the classic line "I think about those mosquitos on my windshield, and how they don't give a damn about Christmas time"), A Mission in Life, and Don't Box Me In (written with Stuart Copeland). They also played a trilogy of instrumental movie soundtracks from Sergio Leone movies; Fist Full of Dollars and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, but I can't remember the last, along with the JC classic Ring of Fire.
f you aren't familiar with Stan's quirky style, I can tell you it's distinctive, and I'm quite a fan. The band was really tight and that drummer was worth his weight in gold, using all kinds of cymbals and other noise-making equipment in his kit. Tons of odd little fills and effects course their way throughout the songs, and he and Pietra had plenty to do in nearly every one of them. While you can classify this as rock, it's not your standard basic three chords stuff. Many of his songs have dry, witty lyrics, and the tunes project a spooky feeling, perhaps like something you would hear in the desert Southwest. Actually, the same sort of feel you get from a Sergio Leone soundtrack in his old Clint Eastwood westerns.
I got to shake hands and got him to sign my copy of 'Holiday in Dirt', for which our own Troy provided the album artwork. I had to chuckle when I told Stan that 'Troy P... said hello" (he told me to do so), and Stan said "Who?". I explained the artwork and he said, 'Oh yeah', Troy! Tell him I said hello too." He's really a nice guy and took time to talk to everyone in line. I was the third one there so my wait was minimal, and after that we headed out and on our way home. It's about a 90 minute drive, so I was exhausted when we finally hit the hay around 1 AM, but it was worth it. If you have a chance to catch them on this tour, Swish highly recommends it.
G Swish
The opener was a Philly band called 'Bunny Drums', and they've been around for many years, or so I'm told. I assume the name is a non-so-subtle reference to Echo and the Bunnymen because their style was very similar, with some Thin White Rope and Chameleons thrown in for good measure. A solid wall of guitars blasting out dark, foreboding songs with a vocalist who sounds dark and foreboding. Pretty good stuff for the most part, and not the usual boring fare you hear before the main course.
They were playing a lot of nice tunes over the PA before and after the opening act; lots of old English Beat, along with some reggae I didn't recognize, but as soon as they started playing the Marty Robins classic 'El Paso', we knew Stan and his mates were about to appear, and we were right. Stan was out front, of course, playing harmonica and guitar. To his right was Pietra Wexstun on the keyboards, to his left was guitarist Rick King, and behind him drummer Joe Berardi. No bass player needed, thank you, at least most of the time. King played bass once or twice I believe, but the keys took over that function most of the time.
Their first tune was 'Call of the West', the title track from that great record, and it set the tone for plenty of Wall of Voodoo material throughout the night. Next up was another title track but from one of Stan's solo records, 'The Big Heat', which has always been my favorite Stan song. While I'll never remember the order of the rest of the songs they played during the main set and three, yes three, encores, I do remember these WOV songs; Factory, Lost Weekend, On Interstate 15, Mexican Radio (I understand he hates playing that one), Spy World, and these Stan Ridgway songs; Camouflage, Peg and Pete and Me, Barbecue, Lonely Town (another fave of mine with the classic line "I think about those mosquitos on my windshield, and how they don't give a damn about Christmas time"), A Mission in Life, and Don't Box Me In (written with Stuart Copeland). They also played a trilogy of instrumental movie soundtracks from Sergio Leone movies; Fist Full of Dollars and The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, but I can't remember the last, along with the JC classic Ring of Fire.
f you aren't familiar with Stan's quirky style, I can tell you it's distinctive, and I'm quite a fan. The band was really tight and that drummer was worth his weight in gold, using all kinds of cymbals and other noise-making equipment in his kit. Tons of odd little fills and effects course their way throughout the songs, and he and Pietra had plenty to do in nearly every one of them. While you can classify this as rock, it's not your standard basic three chords stuff. Many of his songs have dry, witty lyrics, and the tunes project a spooky feeling, perhaps like something you would hear in the desert Southwest. Actually, the same sort of feel you get from a Sergio Leone soundtrack in his old Clint Eastwood westerns.
I got to shake hands and got him to sign my copy of 'Holiday in Dirt', for which our own Troy provided the album artwork. I had to chuckle when I told Stan that 'Troy P... said hello" (he told me to do so), and Stan said "Who?". I explained the artwork and he said, 'Oh yeah', Troy! Tell him I said hello too." He's really a nice guy and took time to talk to everyone in line. I was the third one there so my wait was minimal, and after that we headed out and on our way home. It's about a 90 minute drive, so I was exhausted when we finally hit the hay around 1 AM, but it was worth it. If you have a chance to catch them on this tour, Swish highly recommends it.
G Swish