Reviewed by Reza

Right, my first ever assignment for Virtual-Lancaster and it's reviewing a little known band called The Ghettobillies. Ok, ‘little-known' isn't strictly true, they have won the Chicago round of the Emergenza International Battle of the Bands and have been selected to go to Boston to compete for a spot at the Taubertal Music Festival in Germany (think modern-day Woodstock). Therefore they are on the verge of bigger things.

The doors are to open at 8 and I get there at 7. Admittedly I am feeling slightly nervous as I have never reviewed a live band before so I'm wondering how I'm going to get on. I buy a couple of beers and chill out with my sister who has accompanied me. Finally the time comes and we get up to leave for the gig, but before the band comes on, I decide to have a quick chat with the drummer John. I introduce myself and we start to talk about what to expect from the gig as well as his musical influences. I wish him good luck and sit down in eager anticipation whilst the boys are tuning up and getting ready.

Finally the gig gets going at around half eight. From what I've heard the lads will be playing two 45-minute sets, interspersed with a 15-minute break. The band consists of Lead guitarist/vocalist Derek Kramer, lead vocalist Robbie Conaway, drummer John Maloney and bassist Matt Longbons. The gig kicks off with a rolling drum march and lead guitarist Derek proclaiming this song ‘to be about getting laid'. This really helps to set the tone for the whole evening, most (actually make that all) of the lyrics are of a very sexual and provocative nature. Definitely not one for the kids! There seems to be a fairly good amount of people here tonight in what is a small venue. The crowd seem to be fairly subdued for the first few songs, cautiously observing the band. The band power away undeterred by this, with supreme confidence.

What immediately becomes apparent throughout the set is how energetic and tight these guys are as a unit. It is a refreshingly unpretentious performance, with the band looking like they are genuinely enjoying themselves. They play with a lot of heart and soul, which is something that is missing in today's stale musical climate. It is also a very flamboyant performance in the tradition of bands like Queen and The Darkness. It certainly helps that they are supremely talented musicians, particularly charismatic frontman Robbie who possesses a fine set of vocal chords, especially in his ability to hold the high notes. His stage presence resembles a youthful Mick Jagger at his prime and David Lee Roth during his Van Halen years, the scissor kicks reminding me of the ‘jump' video, (albeit without the cheesy synthesizers!).

It must be said that these guys have a very eclectic taste in music and this shows in their very spontaneous performance - they are anything but predictable! Every style of music seems to be represented here, from punk to country & western, blues, funk, 70's rock and a slight dab of disco. You can certainly hear their influences ranging from the funk of The Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Primus to the straight out punk attitude of The Meat Puppets. You have Led Zeppelin and AC/DC riffs combined with a good pinch of Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart and Ween style quirkiness thrown into the mix for good measure. To name but a few! However rather than just blatantly plagiarising their influences note for note, these guys manage to play with a breathtaking originality not often seen these days, really making the songs their own. The Ghettobillies are anything but serious and anyone expecting serious political polemic is going to utterly disappointed. Song titles such as ‘My first porno', ‘The Gap' and ‘Open Wide' display a thoroughly smutty and juvenile sense of humour in the fine tradition of The Bloodhound Gang and Early Beastie Boys.

Towards the end of the gig a small collection of people were up and dancing along, unfortunately obscuring my view at the same time! It seemed that people were finally getting into the swing of things. They had won over the crowd so much towards the end of the night that they even played an encore. The band eventually finished at around 11 to a standing ovation that was almost deafening but thoroughly deserved. The only minor quibble I had with the gig is that the band's performance was too big for the venue. You needed a dance floor for people to really be able to let themselves go. But rest assured that I will catch these guys the next time they come around.

Reviewed by Reza – 30/06/04

The Ghettobillies will be playing at the Waterfront Bar, Morecambe on Friday 9 July 2004

http://www.ghettobillies.com