The Fleshtones Do It Again

I think I've seen The Fleshtones every time they've played in Toronto over the past 15 years, and one of the most fun New Year's Eves I've spent was seeing them perform in their hometown of New York City about 10 years ago. And even though they're more than 30 years into their career, they proved again on Friday night at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern that they're still one of the most entertaining live bands on the planet. Even R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck says the quartet "have consistently been the best live band on earth" through their time together.

Friday night's show began with Crummy Stuff, a power trio fronted by singer/guitarist Rob Sweeney — who's been doing this for 30 years himself with Durango 95 and The Purple Toads. He hasn't changed the formula much with Crummy Stuff, who were named after a Ramones song, but you might as well stick with something if you're good at it.

A happy surprise was supplied by Invasions. I knew nothing about this young local sextet, who apparently have some British members and are looking to move to England. Their psychedelic-influenced pop would probably go over bigger there, so try to check them out while they're still in Canada. They just released a six-song EP titled Magic.

The Fleshtones began their performance in the middle of the club amidst the 200-or-so people who came to see them, and the group spent almost as much time there as they did on stage. But that didn't stop the music, even when the band members got on the floor and started doing push-ups, since they pulled people from the crowd (including Sweeney) to go on stage and play their instruments while they got their exercise in.

Even though Christmas is still a month away, The Fleshtones mixed a few tunes from their newly released holiday album, Stocking Stuffer, into their set. The best, and most appropriate, of them was "Canadian Christmas."

Frontman Peter Zaremba manned the organ or pulled out a harmonica from time to time when he wasn't dancing or unbuttoning his shirt while singing. Guitarist/vocalist Keith Streng could often be found on top of a chair or posing, and bassist Kenny Fox and drummer Bill Milhizer played their supporting roles just as well.

The Fleshtones' albums don't have the uniform excellence of their performances, but you can download both live and studio recordings of the group's self-coined "super rock" from their website to give you an idea of what they're all about.

I've heard good things about author Joe Bonomo's Sweat: The Story Of The Fleshtones, America's Garage Band biography and picked it up late last year. I planned to read the book during my recent vacation, but didn't get around to it. But Friday's show gave me reason to keep it on the top of my "to read" pile.