butthole surfers at 930?

Originally posted by sweetcell:
so, i've never been to a BHS show. what should i expect? i take it they aren't as wild as they used to be (what with the kids from the SoR around)… anyone attend this show?

One show in Washington D.C. with G.W.A.R. saw Kathleen take the stage to dance in nothing but gold body paint and antique wooden snow shoes. And at another particularly wild concert in 1986, Haynes and Lynch reportedly engaged in sexual intercourse while on stage, as Leary used a screwdriver to vandalize the club's speakers. This came after only five songs, during which time Haynes had started a small fire.

That sounds like a cross between the Danceteria show in NY and something else.

Kathleen danced a few songs last night in NJ but appears to have been wearing a t-shirt, black pants, and some kind of face paint or grease.

She was not announced to be at any of the shows but was expected in the audience in NYC next month. Whether she's showing up in places other than NJ/NY, I don't know.

:eek:

Originally posted by Patranoid:
Kathleen danced a few songs last night in NJ

Originally posted by Relaxer:
Link to photos of last night's NJ performance. Includes a shot of the setlist.
Satan! Satan! Satan!

Very excited. Going Friday in Philly. Haven't seen them for 15 years. Nice set list too…a nice mix.

Originally posted by PigIron:

Originally posted by Relaxer:
Link to photos of last night's NJ performance. Includes a shot of the setlist.
Satan! Satan! Satan!

Very excited. Going Friday in Philly. Haven't seen them for 15 years. Nice set list too…a nice mix.

Lucky you. Andrew WK is playing the Philly show.

I'll be there.

Originally posted by Relaxer:

Originally posted by PigIron:

Originally posted by Relaxer:
Link to photos of last night's NJ performance. Includes a shot of the setlist.
Satan! Satan! Satan!

Very excited. Going Friday in Philly. Haven't seen them for 15 years. Nice set list too…a nice mix.

Lucky you. Andrew WK is playing the Philly show.

Wow. Had no idea he was on the bill. Not a huge fan but hopefully he'll be fun to watch and fun to get drunk to while waiting for the Surfers. Thanks.

Still trying to decide what I thought of the show. Part of me thinks it was pretty awesome because I was tipsy and have been working 14-hour days and therefore have zero time for fun or a social life…I think I was in the right frame of mind for this kind of show maybe. Very, very fun, though the ending was a bit gratuitous.

Thatguy, great to chat with you….always a pleasure. I really do love some of the 9:30 staph and getting to see them, even in brief, is a major bonus to my concert-going enjoyment.

Am curious to hear what everyone else thought, especially if you've seen the Surfers before in their heyday. I was in a different type of zone for this show, so I enjoyed it. Those dead body car crash videos were a bit much for me though. Ick.

On a somewhat related note, anyone remember when the Butthole Surfers hit it "big" with "Pepper" and had Stone Temple Pilots open for them in like 1993? 2 VERY drunk girls tonight didn't realize that the band playing was the Butthole Surfers and kept waiting for the opening band to finish so they could see the headliners play "Pepper", then were disappointed that in fact it WAS really them and the big HIT song wasn't played. Wow. I didn't realize that sort of thing would happen at a Butthole Surfers show in 2008. Radiohead maybe…I could see folks waiting around for "Creep", but NOT Gibby and Co.

Originally posted by bearman:
On a somewhat related note, anyone remember when the Butthole Surfers hit it "big" with "Pepper" and had Stone Temple Pilots open for them in like 1993?

Yep, at some Equestrian center. I believe the Lips were on that bill as well.

Originally posted by bearman:
[QB] Still trying to decide what I thought of the show. Part of me thinks it was pretty awesome because I was tipsy and have been working 14-hour days and therefore have zero time for fun or a social life…I think I was in the right frame of mind for this kind of show maybe. Very, very fun, though the ending was a bit gratuitous.

They did the same kind of ending in Feb. with Gibby and SOR. I like seeing the kids given license to go nuts. This time, at least, Paul was there to sing the Shah.

Afterwards, both Paul and King said that they thought the show was lacking, that they did better in Asbury Park. Obviously they know, but I had a good time. Gibby and Paul were clearly having communication issues meaningful only to them, as during Dust Devil. At the same time, Gibby was smiling or on the verge of laughing every time he looked at Paul, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy :)

I think they've done a very butthole surfer-esque thing in managing to incorporate a lot of teenagers into their act and put on a fun show. This has really proven to me that their music is just plain good music. It's not dependent on them to sound good.

Originally posted by SPARX:

Originally posted by bearman:
On a somewhat related note, anyone remember when the Butthole Surfers hit it "big" with "Pepper" and had Stone Temple Pilots open for them in like 1993?

Yep, at some Equestrian center. I believe the Lips were on that bill as well.

I saw that one in, of all places, the Poconos. I believe that tour was before the big Pepper song. If my memory serves me correctly, that tour was for the Independent Worm Saloon record. And damn, STP aside, that was a really good show.

First, a disclaimer: I am to the Butthole Surfers as Julian is to the Smashing Pumpkins. For the most part (save the last two albums…blech), they can do no wrong in my eyes.

So the fact that I got to see them with their classic line-up pretty much guaranteed that I would be losing my shit. Which I did. Now, I never saw them in their heyday, but at least I got a huge dose of their greatest "hits."

They stuck to almost all pre-Electric Larryland songs (only played Ulcer Breakout, if I recall the name correctly), and played a ton that I never though I'd see live.

The only big drag for me was the pretty terrible versions of "Ulcer" and "Girl Passing Gas." I was kind of surprised to see Paul acting so pissed that Gibby missed some of his cues. It's a Butthole Surfers show, fer chrissake, and you're backed by a shit load of little kids. I don't think anyone was expecting perfection.

The other minor drag was how old a few of them looked. Gibby's sorta become an upstanding member of society…at least in looks. Even though he was less distinguished looking last night, he's still not the wildman he once was. Jeff looked probably the best…he was probably the closest looking "Guy that should be in a band named the Butthole Surfers." Teresa didn't look like time had treated her well at all, and King pretty much looked like he's always looked. Paul is probably the worst of the bunch…he looked like a grandfather up there. At least his solos still ripped.

Other than that, the music sounded great. Well, sounded great is probably not the right word, but it sounded exactly like I wanted it to. It was loud, sloppy and noisy. Again, I may be horribly biased, but that has top contender position for my favorite show of the year.

It was a very good show I thought but I wish those kids were not present at the show. Agreed about Passing Gas being terrible, but they pretty much killed on 4-5 songs. Oh, I saw nkotb in front fist pumping…

Guilty as charged.

Also, I meant to comment on the videos. Pretty disturbing…moreso than the last few tours. The video of the African circumcision was particularly brutal…and awesome.

Originally posted by wanderlust j. marshmallow:
Oh, I saw nkotb in front fist pumping…

Yeah, the videos really were pretty disturbing, and there were certain moments I wasn't sure WHAT the hell I was looking at. I did enjoy the show a lot though. Just wish I wasn't so damn tired right now.

Good show, better than I'd expected but not quite reaching magical status. Much debate beforehand on A) whether the SoR kids would detract from the show, and B) just how much the SoR kids would detract from the show. But for the most part, I actually think they improved it by beefing up the sound. It got sloppy at times, which will happen when you have five guitars playing (three of which being played by pre-pubes), but it ensured a big sound.

Best times though were when it was just the 5 members of the band. Leary can still shred the guitar, and the twin drummers were right on.

It's kind of weird seeing the Buttholes at this more mellow, upstanding stage. It's like seeing Gwar doing a VH1 Unplugged kind of thing. I understand it's not 1985 anymore, but there was something so conventional about the show. Not a complaint so much as an observation.

I did want to jump on stage, grab that little bastard spitting water on the crowd, and punch him in the bandana.

1. I caught this lineup about 20 years ago.
2. Aren't they in their 50s? (started in there 20s in 81)
3. That kid should have been choked.
4. This was a stripped down tour, no engineers or the like.
5. I thought they looked good for their age, Gibby was clean and relatively sober.
6. No flaming cymbal.
7. I forget if it was Ulcer breakout that had Gibby a 1/2 beat or so off. That was annoying.
8. Too much Independent Worm Saloon (especially if no Annoying Song)
9. Nothing from PO'd (not that that is bad…)
10. Sometimes the kids helped the songs, sometimes they hurt, often they were just "there".
11. They did the kicks for Sweat Loaf, just like back in the day.
12. They played a set that I was happy with, just if they had done Cough Syrup I would have left completely pleased, but was quite happy to finally get a live 22 going on 23.
13. One kid who soloed with Paul did a good job, it worked well together.
14. It was very loud.

Originally posted by Sir HC:
1. I caught this lineup about 20 years ago.
2. Aren't they in their 50s? (started in there 20s in 81)
3. That kid should have been choked.
4. This was a stripped down tour, no engineers or the like.
5. I thought they looked good for their age, Gibby was clean and relatively sober.
6. No flaming cymbal.
7. I forget if it was Ulcer breakout that had Gibby a 1/2 beat or so off. That was annoying.
8. Too much Independent Worm Saloon (especially if no Annoying Song)
9. Nothing from PO'd (not that that is bad…)
10. Sometimes the kids helped the songs, sometimes they hurt, often they were just "there".
11. They did the kicks for Sweat Loaf, just like back in the day.
12. They played a set that I was happy with, just if they had done Cough Syrup I would have left completely pleased, but was quite happy to finally get a live 22 going on 23.
13. One kid who soloed with Paul did a good job, it worked well together.
14. It was very loud.

Yeah but did they play "The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave?"

From the "how to tell you are old" file:

When you are talking about seeing the Butthole Surfers open for the Dead Kennedys at WUST (the VERY building we now work in!) and a coworker hadn't even been born yet.

Yikes.

Originally posted by twangirl:

Originally posted by Sir HC:
1. I caught this lineup about 20 years ago.
2. Aren't they in their 50s? (started in there 20s in 81)
3. That kid should have been choked.
4. This was a stripped down tour, no engineers or the like.
5. I thought they looked good for their age, Gibby was clean and relatively sober.
6. No flaming cymbal.
7. I forget if it was Ulcer breakout that had Gibby a 1/2 beat or so off. That was annoying.
8. Too much Independent Worm Saloon (especially if no Annoying Song)
9. Nothing from PO'd (not that that is bad…)
10. Sometimes the kids helped the songs, sometimes they hurt, often they were just "there".
11. They did the kicks for Sweat Loaf, just like back in the day.
12. They played a set that I was happy with, just if they had done Cough Syrup I would have left completely pleased, but was quite happy to finally get a live 22 going on 23.
13. One kid who soloed with Paul did a good job, it worked well together.
14. It was very loud.

Yeah but did they play "The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave?"

Yes, they ended with it. No tuba/Souzaphone either though there was some sax playing.

Originally posted by eddie:
From the "how to tell you are old" file:

When you are talking about seeing the Butthole Surfers open for the Dead Kennedys at WUST (the VERY building we now work in!) and a coworker hadn't even been born yet.

Yikes.

Oh man. I was at that show. Now I feel old too.