tBS @ The Meat Locker, Montclair NJ 10/15/04

[Stephen Swann]

The Brain Surgeons played live last night at the Meat
Locker/Underground Eight in Montclair, NJ.  The performance
space was once a "presentation studio" - basically a cozy
(in the sense of small but comfortably furnished) below
street level club, apparently long in disuse, recently
re-opened.  The sound mix was good, I thought Ross'
guitar and Deb's vocals both could have used a bit of
boost, but both were still clearly audible.

The setlist consisted of:
Tattoo Vampire
Jimmy Boots
Gun
Operation Luv
Lonestar
Constantine's Sword
Verboten
Cities on Flame
Godzilla
Dominance & Submission
The Red and the Black

Encore:
Born To Be Wild

They were filming the performance, so I presume there is
some chance of some or all of it making it to video at some
point.

The opening numbers were a pair of Helen Wheels numbers
(Tattoo Vampire being significantly different from the BOC
version).  Great songs, both of them.  Then the band went
through a mix old old and new Surgeons tunes, before getting
to the "BOC standards" closing part of the setlist.

So, you're probably wondering how it was?

Holy shredding metal monsters, Batman!

The influences of Ross the Boss' presence in the band are
immediate and obvious:
(1) they're more metal than ever
(2) they're more intense in their performances

Don't get me wrong, the Surgeons have always played great
shows.  They've always had loads of energy and a great live
"vibe", and they never, ever mail in a performance.  I used
to really look forward to the later-in-the-set numbers once
Deb's voice was warmed up, and she would start really
belting out the tunes.  But there was time for ballads and
goofing around at the mike, and at times it had more of a
"hanging out with friends" vibe to it.

Last night (except for the traditional comedy break during
Godzilla), it was a lot more head-down, full-tilt rock and
roll.  Ross has lost none of his shredding, melt-the-strings
lead guitar capabilities.  More than that, he obviously
*loves* the material, is totally into the show, and the rest
of the band seems to draw new energy off of his enthusiasm.
The new material is real "damn the torpedoes full speed
ahead" type stuff, and Al intimated that the other new
material (which they haven't debuted yet), which is even
more intense.  The vibe of their live show now is less
relaxed than it used to be, and with more restless, boiling
energy.

I think it's the best Brain Surgeons show I've seen.

--
Steve Swann    | Speak to me in many voices, make
swann at cugc.org |     them all sound like one