The Danglers and the Immortal Lee County Killers at Cafe 9

Monday, July 11, 2005

Another music-soaked weekend, this was. Friday night, the 8th, was at Cafe 9. First up was some guy with a guitar and a drum he played with his feet. I guess it was meant to be blues, but it was mostly just boring. I took that time to do a crossword puzzle.
Next up was the Danglers. I saw them a couple of weeks ago at the Ideat Village show in Temple Plaza. I wanted to see if they had the same boundless enthusiasm indoors. I was not disappointed. Their energy was great. The singer would not be confined by the small stage, so climbed onto the bar, where the blue lights made him look like a corpse. He even climbed along the walls and ran outside for a period. Good stuff, real rock and roll. Not entirely ground-breaking songs, but they don't need to be. The intense, raw power makes up for it.
The headliners were the Immortal Lee County Killers. They were super-hyped, but I just wasn't feeling it. Their equipment was cool. The speaker cabinets were made out of small dressers or end tables and the guitar was custom made. They were a three-piece; guitar, drums and keyboard. They were decent, but not too exciting. Bluesy rock. They played a Pussy Galore cover. The singer just didn't do it for me. He was singing like he didn't give it much thought. I've been on a kick recently where I want to hear singers who actually sing. The drummer sang a piece that was good. It was like an old spiritual blues holler, and he was accompanied by the keyboardist. That was the only moment in their set when I was actually engaged. And I don't usually feel the need to comment on the physical state of performers, but in this case it was kind of distracting; the drummer and keyboard player were skeletal, they looked sick, like touring didn't agree with them. Maybe it was all the heroin.