Urge Overkill's Saturation was the third cd I ever bought, preceded only by Dookie and Pork Soda, and they were one of the first bands that I felt compelled to acquire everything they recorded. Unfortunately they split up one album after I discovered them. But luckily for us they seem to be back on track and playing shows.
The openers were The Rudds and Suffrajett. The Rudds were a pretty straight forward rock band with a few soul songs that didn't really work as well as the upbeat rock tunes. The male singer was trying to channel Chris Robinson at times. But they sounded tight and professional in spite of a shuffled band line up seeing the drummer fill in on bass for the show. And plus it was cool to see Eddie Roeser just sitting around checking out the music and Nash Kato wandering about the place.
Up next were Suffrajett who were more sloppy and chaotic than The Rudds but definitely not in a bad way. They were starting as the Red Sox were finishing up on the bar's TV. By the time the singer finished tuning up her electric violin and was into the first song, Jason Varitek was hitting a walk off single garnering cheers from the patrons, cheers which she acknowledged were not for her. Since the game was over (and with a positive outcome) more folks turned their attention to the stage. The singer was wearing a skirt that was shorter than my attention span, the music was good, and the place was getting a little more crowded. It was starting to feel like more of a rock show (no offense to The Rudds). But I was still a little disappointed by the amount of people who had turned out at this point.
Suffrajett left the stage after what seemed to be a walk out by the bass player, leaving behind a shrugging drummer. They came back out and played one more song. After their set was done, my brother and I headed up towards the bar to survey the area. From there I was happy to see that the place was getting more crowded. It wasn't packed but it was good to see people coming out. We headed back down to get a better view before Urge Overkill came on stage.
They opened with "Positive Bleeding" and we were on our way. Since I had never seen them live before and this was sort of a reunion tour, I was unsure what kind of variety they would play. They played "The Candidate" which I expected but they also played "What's this Generation Coming To?" which I didn't expect. Granted I have no criteria on which to base these expectations. Either way I was glad to hear "Generation." Also a lot of stuff from Saturation and Exit the Dragon and it all sounded fresh. I'm ready for a new Urge Overkill CD. And so was the guy next to me. He was going bananas and kept screaming for them to play "Crackbabies" which unfortunately they didn't.
Speaking of a new CD, Roeser said they will be recording one soon, "God willing." Other than that he didn't say much and it was Nash Kato who did most of the interacting with the fans. Aside from making a "Henhough" reference/tease, he introduced a new song, dedicating it to a fan who yelled for "new songs." He called the guy a "jackass," they played it, and then he playfully told the guy to "step off." Touche. (actually it just turned up on youtube, here)
I was psyched to be hearing the soundtrack of my highschool years being played live and everybody popped for "Sister Havana," but for me the best song of the night was "The Break." No reason in particular, they just played the shit out of that song. "Last Night/Tomorrow," "Take Me," "Erica Kane" and "Stalker" were really good, too. As I said, the setlist was mostly from the last two albums. Very little if any at all from Americruiser/Jesus Urge Superstar. They ended the show with "Heaven 90210." At least I hope that was the end. Because the lights came on and I had a train to catch so I split.
The band sounded really good. There is a new drummer and a bass player. I always wondered how they played live before, if they had a touring bass player or what. Blackie isn't currently in the band. I'm sure there are reasons for absences that conspicuous and I'm not going to speculate as to what they might be.
Anyway, I had alot of fun at the show and I'm looking forward to a new Urge Overkill cd at some point. And on a complete side note, on my train ride home I saw a homeless guy at Park Street dressed like the FedEx Pope. I like seeing bands and I like seeing the Fedex Pope. Good times!
