The Culture Vulture goes cuckoo: The Knitters & Phranc
Jeezus, it doesn't get much hotter than John Doe, Exene, Dave Alvin, D.J. Bonebrake and Jonny Ray Bartel on stage together on a late August night. I'm talking about The Knitters here, baby. Take three X exes, throw in one former Blaster, and add the guy with the big-ass double bass and you've got yourself one of the hottest tickets in town.
Dallas' Sons of Hermann Hall played host to our aforementioned heroes, and a better venue couldn't have been dreamed up. Trees or the Gypsy Tea Room couldn't have pulled this off with such aplomb. Hell, no. The old honky-tonk appeal of Sons of Hermann played right into the evening's vibe, and the pre-show rockabilly and old-school country selections pumped the audience right up. The crowd itself was great - people of all ages and proclivities, and to my relief, there was none of the usual hipster-bullshit attitude that usually poisons the atmosphere of Dallas gigs. Even the chair-juggling and haggling was relatively easy; we found the perfect seats - at a table right by the stage.
Toasting our good luck and Joe's birthday, we loaded up on our Coronas with lime, and when it was time for more, I sauntered up to the bar and ran right into my college buddy, Corey. The first words out of his mouth: "I knew you'd be here!"
Up front and center, Dreamheart.
Not only did Dave Alvin and John Doe first come on and do Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings" and "Crying But My Tears Are Far Away" - both from the 1985 Slash album Poor Little Critter On The Road - but John Doe told the crowd right off the bat that "We'll get the sad shit out of the way first." The reaction was mixed, consisting of some nervous titters here and there. After all, Poor Little Critter is full of those sad-sack, honky-tonk gems - both originals and covers - and for a moment there, those of us who'd take that disc to a desert island were feeling a bit disconcerted.
That fear was quickly shuffled aside when Exene, DJ and Jonny came out on stage, and launched right into the blistering evening. Exene called out for everyone to take a moment for Biscuit from the Big Boys, who died the previous week, so naturally, everyone raised their drinks in fond farewell.
Don't remember the order of the songs, but there's some re-tooled X floating around on the new album, The Modern Sounds of The Knitters - "In This House That I Call Home" and "Burning House of Love" that went over well with the crowd. Exene's intro to "In This House That I Call Home" came after several of us in the audience were shouting out requests for "Trail of Time," and she said, "Oh no. Instead of 'Trail of Time,' we're gonna do a song about this crazy-ass house in Hollywood that we used to live in."
The Knitters never fail to make magic with their various cover versions, and this time around there's Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild," "Rank Stranger" by the Stanley Brothers, and my favorite, Porter Wagoner's "I'll Go Down Swinging." How fucking perfect is that?! The power of Porter always compels me, so hearing this was truly a like sharing a moment with the divine.
Other crowd pleasers included all the standards from Poor Little Critter On The Road - "Poor Old Heartsick Me," "The New World," "The Call of the Wrecking Ball," "Baby Out of Jail" and "Rock Island Line," with a few new species thrown in. Sea monkeys? Gotta love it.
One burning question: why wasn't Dave Alvin on the bill for last year's Crossroads Festival at the Cotton Bowl?! He is a bona-fide guitar god, right up there with Clapton, Santana, Johnny Marr, and all the rest. Fingers of fire. He makes it look so effortless. And Exene and John, hell - Exene and John Doe are the Tammy and George, the Hank and Audrey, of rock and roll. For me, anyway. I don't give a shit what anybody else thinks.
Before the gig, I wasn't all that jazzed about opener Phranc, "the all-American, Jewish lesbian folk singer," but she won my heart. Anyone who buys their L.A. home with the proceeds from their Tupperware sales and sings a ditty about "Condoleeza, You're Scarin' Me" - well, they're tops in my book. Too bad the crowd in the back were acting like assholes and kept talking over her set. Their loss. They missed the other Phranc gems such as "Caped Crusader" (about Pope John Paul II), another song about renowned photographer Brassai's "nocturnal people" (is that the name of the song?) and covers including "The Hokey Pokey," Herman's Hermits' "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" (on ukelele!) and Dylan's "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll." Hell yeah, I'd pay $20 to see her again. And she's cute, to boot!
Dallas' Sons of Hermann Hall played host to our aforementioned heroes, and a better venue couldn't have been dreamed up. Trees or the Gypsy Tea Room couldn't have pulled this off with such aplomb. Hell, no. The old honky-tonk appeal of Sons of Hermann played right into the evening's vibe, and the pre-show rockabilly and old-school country selections pumped the audience right up. The crowd itself was great - people of all ages and proclivities, and to my relief, there was none of the usual hipster-bullshit attitude that usually poisons the atmosphere of Dallas gigs. Even the chair-juggling and haggling was relatively easy; we found the perfect seats - at a table right by the stage.
Toasting our good luck and Joe's birthday, we loaded up on our Coronas with lime, and when it was time for more, I sauntered up to the bar and ran right into my college buddy, Corey. The first words out of his mouth: "I knew you'd be here!"
Up front and center, Dreamheart.
Not only did Dave Alvin and John Doe first come on and do Merle Haggard's "Silver Wings" and "Crying But My Tears Are Far Away" - both from the 1985 Slash album Poor Little Critter On The Road - but John Doe told the crowd right off the bat that "We'll get the sad shit out of the way first." The reaction was mixed, consisting of some nervous titters here and there. After all, Poor Little Critter is full of those sad-sack, honky-tonk gems - both originals and covers - and for a moment there, those of us who'd take that disc to a desert island were feeling a bit disconcerted.
That fear was quickly shuffled aside when Exene, DJ and Jonny came out on stage, and launched right into the blistering evening. Exene called out for everyone to take a moment for Biscuit from the Big Boys, who died the previous week, so naturally, everyone raised their drinks in fond farewell.
Don't remember the order of the songs, but there's some re-tooled X floating around on the new album, The Modern Sounds of The Knitters - "In This House That I Call Home" and "Burning House of Love" that went over well with the crowd. Exene's intro to "In This House That I Call Home" came after several of us in the audience were shouting out requests for "Trail of Time," and she said, "Oh no. Instead of 'Trail of Time,' we're gonna do a song about this crazy-ass house in Hollywood that we used to live in."
The Knitters never fail to make magic with their various cover versions, and this time around there's Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild," "Rank Stranger" by the Stanley Brothers, and my favorite, Porter Wagoner's "I'll Go Down Swinging." How fucking perfect is that?! The power of Porter always compels me, so hearing this was truly a like sharing a moment with the divine.
Other crowd pleasers included all the standards from Poor Little Critter On The Road - "Poor Old Heartsick Me," "The New World," "The Call of the Wrecking Ball," "Baby Out of Jail" and "Rock Island Line," with a few new species thrown in. Sea monkeys? Gotta love it.
One burning question: why wasn't Dave Alvin on the bill for last year's Crossroads Festival at the Cotton Bowl?! He is a bona-fide guitar god, right up there with Clapton, Santana, Johnny Marr, and all the rest. Fingers of fire. He makes it look so effortless. And Exene and John, hell - Exene and John Doe are the Tammy and George, the Hank and Audrey, of rock and roll. For me, anyway. I don't give a shit what anybody else thinks.
Before the gig, I wasn't all that jazzed about opener Phranc, "the all-American, Jewish lesbian folk singer," but she won my heart. Anyone who buys their L.A. home with the proceeds from their Tupperware sales and sings a ditty about "Condoleeza, You're Scarin' Me" - well, they're tops in my book. Too bad the crowd in the back were acting like assholes and kept talking over her set. Their loss. They missed the other Phranc gems such as "Caped Crusader" (about Pope John Paul II), another song about renowned photographer Brassai's "nocturnal people" (is that the name of the song?) and covers including "The Hokey Pokey," Herman's Hermits' "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" (on ukelele!) and Dylan's "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll." Hell yeah, I'd pay $20 to see her again. And she's cute, to boot!
posted by No, You Can't Watch at 12:16 AM
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