The Jesus Lizard brought their distorted, edgy, convoluted post-punk-hardcore sound (or often simply labeled: “noise rock”) to a packed crowd at The Agora Theatre last night in Cleveland, Ohio.
The all-original 1987 quartet of vocalist David Yow, bassist David Wm, drummer Mac McNeilly and guitarist Duane Denison were prompt and energetic, delivering a memorable performance.
All eyes remained on Yow throughout the set as their live shows are known for Yow’s shocking antics and humorous aggression with the likes of Sid Vicious and Iggy Pop; nearly four decades later, such observations remain valid as if Yow was still in his mid-20s.
Yow (somewhat resembling the late Lemmy Kilmister), now 64, jumped off stage immediately from the start and crawled into the crowd to initiate a mosh pit, he also got up-close and personal with fans while leaning over the barrier and later in the show he crowd surfed, all while managing to sing the band’s trademark raunchy lyrics.
On stage, the manic Yow would spit, stumble, dance like Robert Plant and throw back cans of Stella Artois. Between songs he clapped his hands repetitively as if mocking the crowd and he occasionally spoke incoherently with mumbled gibberish, as though intoxicated.
Fans ate it all up and most seemed familiar and unphased by Yow’s banter and interactions; some in the crowd mentioned seeing the band 20 or more times through the years, so they expected nothing less.
Although the influential Austin-Chicago-based legends performed a slew of recognizable songs from their seven album catalogue (including: “Boilermaker,” “Nub,” “Seasick, “Blue Shot,” “Puss,” “Destroy Before Reading,” “Gladiator,”) the setlist focused mostly on their most recent album RACK, which released a few months ago. RACK is the band’s first four-lettered album in 26 years, with the last being 1998’s BLUE.
Yow humorously introduced “Hide & Seek”: “We have a new record and this new song is sweeping the nation far and wide… it’s like there’s Taylor Swift… and us.” Yow left the stage and pulled out a chair to sit on for the verbal spoken word song “What If?”
From RACK, they also played: “Falling Down,” “Alexis Feels Sick,” “Moto(R),” “Armistice Day,” “Grind,” “Dunning Kruger,” and others.
The extraordinarily talented Wm and Denison were concentrative throughout the aggressive 90-minute set while primarily remaining in their stationed spots to give room for Yow. McNeilly’s fast-paced, hard hitting drumming on his high-rise was precise and kept all the music’s stylings together and focused. One could tell they all enjoyed performing the sometimes proggy newer material.
All in all, the chaotic crowd interaction alongside the pounding hardcore music and really, just the presence of the dynamic rock music vets themselves, made it a night to remember.
Longtime Cleveland hardcore band Disengage reunited and opened the show with an impressively ferocious set.
The band controlled the stage with energetic stomps and they each grooved in unison with their instruments. The sound was reminiscent of a mix of Clutch, Helmet, Life Of Agony, Black Flag, Bad Religion.
Vocalist Jason Byers threw the mic into the crowd for fans to catch and sing the choruses, then the fans threw the mic back at Byers on stage. Rock ‘N Roll!
The setlist included: “Detroit,” “Grew A Tail,” “Love Letter,” “Sunday,” “Spine Of Teeth,” “Death Threat” and others.
the JESUS LIZARD (click to enlarge)
DISENGAGE (click to enlarge)
Comments
Post a Comment