Live

Rip It Up, Issue 120, 1 July 1987, Page 34

Live

Jason and the Scorchers

Galaxy, June 13

“Farming is the backbone of America” read the bumper sticker on Jason Ringenburg's guitar. From the opening strains of ‘Dixie' to ‘Take Me Home, Country Road, Jason -and the Scorchers never let the crowd of around 600 enthusiasts forget the band’s roots. But the Scorchers’ version of country music is more like Neil Young meets the Ramones than the western swing of Bob Wills. There was no let up in energy (or intense volume) from the moment the four-piece hit the stage. The gangling Ringenburg has an endearing downhome manner to go with his cowboy hat, and he's got an excellent country rock' voice. Flanking him however were two guitarists with rock and roll images of their own. The bassist is from the Paul Simonon school of Zips, leather, and no emotion. On lead guitar almost stealing the show was Warner Hodges, who constantly spewed manic pure HM solos, never letting up on his show antics as he twirled on the spot and, most impressively, spun his guitar on its strap around his neck without losing a beat. With dark

King Charles curls, pot belly and spurs, he gave the show a refreshing air of camp humour. Supporting the band’s original tunes (‘Broken Whiskey Glass’ from Lost and Found, ‘lf Money Talks, | Wish it Would Speak to Me) was a diverse selection of classic covers that ensured the party never stopped: ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky, ‘Great Balls of Fire] ‘l9th Nervous Breakdown’ and, of course, ‘Absolutely Sweet Marie! But no matter who wrote the song, the Scorchers left their brand, particularly on the delicate encore ‘Amazing Grace! The momentum was such that the crowd was well satisfied after 80 stomping, sweaty minutes. Full of spirit, vitality and humour, Jason and the Scorchers whooped a Confederate rebel yell. : Chris Bourke

Toot Suite’s Big TV Show Gluepot, June 27 If you like the pub to be relaxing, and the band to be more entertaining than simply stand, strum, sing, and if you like a comedian to be almost as witty as he claims himself to be, then you might have liked Toot Suite with Willy de Wit at the Gluepot. The blurb claimed Toot Suite to be one of Auckland’s most popular bands, but the numbers at the Gluepot belied this fact, and frankly | think the audience they seem to aiming at are

not serious band-goers (more seriously pub-goers, in general). They are a talented group of musicians, tight and professional, but pretty boring and very mainstream. A few covers, including Cab Calloway’s ‘Hi De Hi De Ho' and the lovely ‘Soul Kind of Feeling, and some original stuff, all nicely rounded with sax and trumpet, but nothing earth-moving. The folks seemed to like it though, with the dancefloor soon littered with gyrating couples, the widest variance of ages there I've ever seen. 5

If the music wasn’'t much to my taste, then Willy de Wit was. Coarse and iconoclastic enough to suit the more refined present, although much of the audience didn't seem to appreciate his rugby player and handicap jokes. De Wit compered the evening, filling in the time between songs and string changes admirably. | loved his imitations of a punk rocker and a heavy metaller. | just waited through the songs for the lad to come back on.

Toot Suite are okay instrument players and they know how to gather in an audience and hold them, but they might try something a little more adventurous if they want the crowds they are hoping for. Or try playing in a smaller pub somewhere else, like, Greymouth. Christine Rogers

The Right Track, Guava Groove London Underground, Auckland, June 10 » Park your Vespa outside the packed London Underground in the central city to witness Auckland’s mods, 1987 vintage. Inside are Guava Groove and the Right Track, two R&B bands of a couple of years' standing, in town again for one of their occasional gigs. ~ Guava Groove are the garage end of R&B, with snappy original songs that don't waste time getting to the point (cf: ‘Auckland Girl Sucks Kumaras), with ‘Bootgir!’ providing the closest reference to their Specials/two tone influence. Craig Bracken is a confident singer and harp-blowing frontman, shining especially on ‘Message for Rudy! The Guava’s catchy originals stand out of their live set; it bodes well for their upcoming four-track EP i

Whereas the Guavas use the sound of '65 to flavour their own material, the Right Track stick as closely as they can to the soul singles, obscure and well-known, that make up their set. The large band squeezed onto the tiny stage for the opening instrumental. But the focus is firmly on Martin Henley, the band's earnest leader. Dressed nattily in early Carnaby Street, he uses his Graham Parker voice well, wisely staying within his limitations; the whole package comes across like Chris Farlowe, the UK

mod soulster. The band started to click on ‘Boomerang, with ‘lnvitation’ having a great Latin feel from the hons. The BVs shone on Major Lance’s ‘Monkey Time' and William Bell’s ‘Don’t Stop Now, one of the tightest songs. Unfortunately the set was broken by a “two minute break” which turned into 20 minutes. Among the songs that followed were ‘Summertime’ and ‘Dark End of the Street, which slowed the dancing down at a crucial stage. Here Henley was overreaching himself a bit. But things bounced back for a stomping version of ‘Cool Jerk, with Craig Bracken joining the stage, the Guavas already having covered it earlier.

Henley, whose soul show is missed on Campus Radio, brings the Charly catalogue to life for a thirsty new audience. It's time, however, for Right Track to take a lesson from their R&B songbook and find their own soul voice. Chris Bourke

Chris Thompson's Big New Car : Gluepot, June 18 In the dozen years since he left New Zealand, Chris Thompson has been teased by that elusive international breakthrough. Returning to local stages last month Thompson showed why he has been a contender for so long. He has a powerful tenor voice reminiscent of the Doobies, and chooses to use it for big band rock aimed for American FM radio. It's to Thompson’s credit that he put together a band of local professionals that proves to inferioritycomplex suffering programmers that our ability to achieve an “international” sound shouldn't even be an issue. However, without taking anything away from the wellrehearsed musicians, to these ears the sort of sound both Thompson and the commercial FM people want is dated: homogeneous and heavy-handed. The Big New Car turns out to be a VB, perfectly preserved since before the oil crisis. From ‘New Attitude’ and ‘Hot Summer Nights' early in the set to ‘You're the Voice’ and ‘Blinded by the Light’ towards the end, the band was slick and strong, altering the dynamics to perfection. The assured Thompson slowed things down for a delicate 'Pretty Flamingo, then brought the band back for a dramatic Springsteenesque number hit home by the piercing carlights of an old Ford. A standout both live and on Thompson's recent solo LP The High Cost of Living was the Motors' ‘Love and Loneliness, plus a song Thompson wrote recently (unashamed name-dropping is part of his charm) with Bobby Whitlock of Layla fame. It was an impressive show, politely enjoyed by the 250 there on

the first night of the Gluepot season, but one can't help thinking Thompsons voice and talents deserve more than the cliched world of Contemporary Hit Radio to which he aspires. Perhaps that elusive hit will liberate his talents. Chris Bourke

Stryper, Knightshade Logan Campbell Centre,

June 23- ;. : - Here it was: heavy metal meets Youth for Christ rally in the-con-crete cavern. The audience, 600 or so, was made up of wellscrubbed young believers and a handful of headbangers there to check out Stryper, the new sensation in Yankee righteous rock. And yes, they did throw Bibles into the audience. Big handfuls of red-covered New Testaments tossed like crusts to a crowd of hungry seagulls. The audience were waiting for them. In the music department too, they got what they wanted: hard-working, highstrutting metal dripping with the appropriate cliches. It was loud and sweaty and it made sense to to stand there at the foot of the stage punching your fist (or your index finger, if you were one of the well-scrubbed ones) into the air. - Stryper’s four-piece (five, if you count the keyboards man in the wings) lineup had a bent towards the more melodic end of metal. Guitarist Oz Fox tortured his instrument - with aplomb, and singer Michael Sweet shrieked just fine. And it has to be said that bass player Tim Gaines (who, like the others, was dressed in spectacular yellow and black) was prettier than many of the. girls in the audience. ~Support act Knightshade warmed up the audience with a taut 30-minute set, looking quite in control on the big stage. Perhaps they could use a little more movement, but the songs, for the most part, work rather well.

Ross Inglis