On the Road Again
Live Review
The Cramps with Guitar Wolf and Demolition Doll Rods
The Opera House, Toronto
Nov. 18, 1997
Being Chart's resident techno-head, having me review a Cramps concert may seem odd. But, back in the day, I was a wee l'il goth-punk-death-rocker, and my dusty copy of Bad Music for Bad People still gets an occasional spin. So while I admittedly lost touch with them about a decade back, a friend whose opinion I generally trust assured me the Cramps latest album is a return to the bad ol' days, so I figured the live show would be worth a gamble.
We only caught the last bit of the Demolition Doll Rods, who were fairly unimpressive musically, but who had a, uh, "unique" stage presence. All three members - two girls and a guy - were clad in g-strings and pasties (yes, even the guy) that featured plastic owl heads with flashing eyes. I was also told by a friend that their drummer is blind, so taking that into consideration, they weren't that bad.
Next up was Guitar Wolf, a Japanese trio who ripped the roof off the place. These guys have an obvious fascination with American pop culture, with a look and sound torn from '50s rockabilly, '60s garage rock and '70s NYC punk. Aside from a few between song exclamations like "Let's rock'n'roll!", "1-2-3-4!" and "Guitar Wolf, motherfuckers!", the vocals were pretty much impossible to make out, with a cover of the Stones' "Satisfaction" being the only song where English lyrics were actually obvious. English, Japanese, or otherwise, it didn't matter 'cause they were skull-crushingly good.
Finally, just after 11 p.m., the Cramps hit the stage. Vocalist Lux Interior looked smashing in a leopard skin body suit, while the lovely Poison Ivy was as sexy as ever in a two-piece green velvet number. Along with their latest rhythm section (sorry, I haven't really kept track since Congo Powers and Nick Knox were on board), they started on the right foot with a trio of tracks both new ("Cramps Stomp") and old ("Garbage Man," "Love Me") that rocked like a sonuvabitch. But then, the problems started: the band's energy seemed to wane, microphone problems got Lux riled up to the point of throwing temper tantrums, and he cut one song short to chastise either a body surfer or the security guards trying to haul him away (his taunts were pretty vague, so I'm not sure who they were intended for). As the breaks between songs got longer, the crowd (which was obnoxious enough to begin with) got more & more restless, and things were lookin' pretty ugly.
Thankfully, they finally got their shit back together near the end of the set for animated, strobe-lit run-throughs of a couple more oldies and a cover of the Count Five nugget, "Psychotic Reaction." The version of "Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?" that closed the set seemed a little off-the-cuff, but by the time they returned for an encore with their sludgeabilly classic, "Human Fly," the vibe was back in full force. The wall-of-sound blast of the obligatory 10-minute "Surfin' Bird" that closed the night was, well, a blast. In the end, the evening left a bad taste in my mouth - but don't forget, when it comes to the Cramps, being bad is really good.
- Greg Clow