The Flesh Eaters at Turf Club
The Flesh Eaters Setlist
The Flesh Eaters Tour Dates 03/14 BOSTON, MA City Winery Boston
03/15 PHILADELPHIA, PA Johnny Brenda’s 03/16 WASHINGTON, DC Union Stage 03/17 NEW YORK, NY Bowery Ballroom Porcupine Tour Dates 03/14 – City Winery – Boston, MA
03/15 – Johnny Brenda’s – Philadelphia, PA 03/16 – Union Stage – Washington DC 03/17 – Bowery Ballroom – New York, NY 03/29 – The Red Herring Lounge – Duluth, MN 03/30th -Palace Theatre – St Paul, MN w/ Bob Mould 04/5th – The Aquarium – Fargo, ND 04/6th – What’s Up Lounge – Mankato, MN 05/18th – Midwest Music Festival – La Crosse, WI 06/28th- Reggies-Chicago, Ill- w/Flipper 10/12th – The Basement East – Nashville, TN -w/Mudhoney 10/14th – Off Broadway – St Louis, Mo -w/ Mudhoney Read More
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Back from the dead… and loving it!
California-based collective The Flesh Eaters have returned, having been in existence since 1977 and last assembled in 2006, braving the elements for a long sold-out show at the Turf Club in St. Paul.
Another dumping of snow, this time six inches of the heavy and wet kind, couldn’t keep most people away from seeing this unconventional “supergroup” of punk/roadhouse/rockabilly veterans, reuniting their 1981 lineup (from their classic album A Minute to Pray, A Second to Die) for a short tour celebrating their first new recording in more than thirty-five years, I Used to Be Pretty (on Yep Roc Records).
The evening opened with a set from area band Porcupine, led by Casey Virock (guitars/vocals) with Ian Prince (drums) and who have upped their profile considerably since adding Greg (ex-Hüsker Dü) Norton (bass) in recent times.
Evolving forward from a late ‘80s/‘90s indie-rock sound of Swervedriver meets QOTSA, the trio is out in support of latest six-song record, What You’ve Heard Isn’t Real (on Dead Broke Rekerds/DC-Jam) and recent lead single, ‘Lifetime’.
The teenage alienation of their version of Hüsker Dü’s ‘Standing by the Sea’ from the new record was originally penned by Norton’s ex-band mate, the late Grant Hart, and is a fitting tribute to his musical legacy. Even songs like 2011’s ‘Rooftops’ resonate further, with Norton providing an extra bump from his restless stage presence and formidable bass skills.
The band stays focused and prefers to let the music do their talking, and fortunately for anyone in the area wanting to catch them that couldn’t find a ticket or didn’t want to risk the weather, the band returns to St. Paul on March 30th at the Palace, opening for Bob Mould to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of Hüsker Dü’s first show.
Led by poet, singer and author Chris Desjardins (Chris D), and joined by Dave Alvin and Bill Bateman (The Blasters), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), and John Doe and DJ Bonebrake (X), The Flesh Eaters casually took to the stage to begin their ninety-minute headlining set. Though each musician is arguably a star in their own right, they all humbly stayed back from any grandstanding and were just band members, all contributing to the whole.
The band’s set began with a revisit to their 1981 album, with the opening ‘See You in the Boneyard’ and ‘Pray 'Til You Sweat’ before moving ahead to 1999’s ‘House Amid the Thickets’.
Chris D’s vocal delivery is a part-spoken low growl /part twisted wail and coupled with his menacing and often morbid lyrics, make for a weird-scenes-inside-the-goldmine delivery akin to something Jim Morrison might sing like, were he still alive.
Alvin showed numerous flashes of why he remains one of the most distinctive guitarists of his genre, Bonebrake kept mostly to the vibraphones and mirimbas, and Berlin’s versatile sax work shifted from big band-esque, to jazz, Tex-Mex, and even E-Street Band-type rock, depending on the song.
“We got a regular winter wonderland out there tonight… us California boys, we’re stunned!” Chris D said about the snow and sleet outdoors, thanking the audience for making the extreme effort to come out to see them.
On the new record, the band revisits some older songs, including 1982’s ‘My Life to Live’, a stomping upbeat love song that is a bit of a departure in theme, coming from emotional conflict and a no-win situation. 1981’s ‘So Long’ was a fine music complement to the former and stunning to hear live as Alvin completely cut loose on guitar, on the back half of the tune.
The new ‘Black Temptation’ is more typical of Chris D’s lyrical themes, “If this is my heart, with soul-ending sorrow, this dream of life is no tomorrow” he sings, but the doom and gloom is forgiven as the band rages and Berlin’s sax helps morph much of the initial darkness away.
Their version of ‘The Green Manalishi ‘, a song originating from Fleetwood Mac’s early blues days and also notably covered by Judas Priest, was stretched out and turned so inside out that the song became a micro-genre of its own, and the main set would end with the horror-pulp pulse of ‘Miss Muerte’.
The encore began with another visit back to 1981, but to The Gun Club’s fabled debut album, Fire of Love (which Chris D partly produced and provided album art for), for the band’s cover of ‘She's Like Heroin to Me’.
Things then directly transitioned into the night’s epic finale, the new ‘Ghost Cave Lament’ (which runs thirteen minutes on record), culminating everything that is about the band- free form sax against calm vibe tones, and ominous building guitar riffs behind dark lyrics wailed like “she plucked her eyes out from her sockets, it amounted to nothing more than loose change in her pockets”.
With I Used to Be Pretty, The Flesh Eaters have returned gloriously – arguably, never really pretty in the first place, but always exploring the blackness, breaking open the emotional doors, and finding tarnished beauty in the ugly.
(click on any photo below to enlarge and see full image)
Porcupine |
The Flesh Eaters at Turf Club, St. Paul (09 March 2019) |
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