5✭ Fridays - The Creepshow

It's been a while since I've been able to write about music for a variety of reasons. First there's the whole music player scandal, which is still bothering me quite a bit. There are no clear winners thus far, only clear losers. The only thing that's keeping me going is Pandora, but it's got a bit of a problem in that I can't just select whatever song I'm jonesing to hear. So, once again, no music from my library. Problem the second: I've had the plague. It wasn't too bad - sore throat, coughing, boils, rain of toads and the like - but I've been spending most of my time abed and not listening to music or thinking about writing. When I got back from being sick, my time was spent equally between catching up on 150 email messages and being excited about being able to go see (and open for) the Creepshow.

First off, let's talk about bass players. I play bass, and I play it very well, but I don't have a double bass, so I'm already behind Sickboy from the Creepshow. He's got a great big black double bass with a skull on it, and he plays it about as well as I've ever seen one played. And I've seen Jim Creegan multiple times as well as the Reverend Horton Heat's bass player, and they're both amazing. Sickboy's a little better, possibly because of his pork pie hat and jazz shoes, or possibly because sometimes his hands moved so fast I couldn't see them.

Reverend Ginty plays keys and sings and looks like he's going about 160 miles per hour. His organ skills are very slick, and every once in a while he breaks into one of those hockey-game organ bits where everyone yells "Charge!" It's wildly entertaining.

Matt Pomade is an intensely good drummer. He plays a simple four-piece kit with a high hat, crash and a ride and that's it. My sentiments can be summed up by the observation of one of my co-enthralled friends: "That dude ain't human." I've rarely seen drummers move as fast as he does or do so much with so little.

Now, I'd been looking forward to meeting Hellcat, the lead singer of the band, but I was informed shortly before arriving at the gig, that Hellcat has got herself in a family way (congrats to her in June) and she has been replaced for the nonce by her younger sister, Sarah.

Sarah is a tiny, tiny little blonde girl. She's five feet tall, and maybe 95 pounds. She is exquisitely beautiful and somewhat frail looking. I must be honest and say that I was at first a little disappointed - she was not what I was expecting - but then she took the stage, and boy did she ever take the stage. She's got a powerful voice and plays a great big blue Schecter Corsair hollowbody guitar that's about as big as she is, and she plays it exceptionally well. Her greatest asset, though, is her stage presence. She easily has the best mass-to-stage-presence ratio of anyone I've ever had the luck to see.

Overall, the band was exceptionally tight, with lots of great hooks - bass solos, organ solos, lots of crowd participation, exhortations to the crowd to start dancing and more. They're a great mix of swing, horrorpunk (à la Misfits) and rockabilly, and I can't wait to see them play again. If you get the chance, and you don't mind the idea of a swing song about Des Vampyrs then you should certainly check out The Creepshow.