And, you missed it. Sacramento proudly welcomed musical legends, "The Queers" Saturday night at the Kennel Club on Auburn Boulevard.
The Queers from Portsmouth, New Hampshire were originally formed in 1982. After signing to Lookout! Records (Berkeley, CA) in 1992, at the same time as Green Day, they began touring and never looked back. They have since released dozens of albums.
Saturday night was one stop on their "Pop Punk" tour across the United States before voyaging over the Atlantic to tour Italy and Spain. The show was all ages and Sacramento did a great job representing its love for the music by filling the place with bodies of all different stages of life. Patrons under the legal drinking age stood out by their glowing wrist bands that radiated under black lights. To be honest, it looked like a high school party from the early 90's with beer and tattoos. People proudly displayed their altered shirts with their favorite band names, patches, chains, mo-hawks, and smiles.
Three Sacramento bands opened that night, one of which are considered legendary all in themselves; The Secretions. This colorful trio of veteran Sacramento musicians always deliver. They bring to the stage presence, passion, and character. They played three shows with The Queers (the night before in San Fransisco, and the night after in Fresno). Part of their set included five pop punk songs to tribute The Queers' pop tour. Danny Secretion (drummer and vocalist) told a tale of the show that preceded and promised the performance would leave the audiences shorts in need of changing.
As The Queers took stage they delivered what was promised. Joe Queer (guitar,lead vocals), Dangerous Dave (bass, vocals), and Lurch (drums, vocals) moved through their set flawlessly as the crowed danced and every single person on the floor had a dirty pants grin on their face from ear to ear. Perhaps even more surprising than The Queers covering The Who's, "The Kids are Alright," was that all the kids were singing along, word for word. The Queers classic, "Punk Rock Girl" had everyone excited; also the band showed off their musicianship with their tribute to Dick Dale and surf music with an all instrumental song.
After the band finished their set and exited the stage the whole place started chanting, "Holy Shit, Holy Shit," (at the suggestion of Danny Secretion) and The Queers came out for an encore performance.
Perhaps one of the most refreshing qualities of The Queers was that they were not intimidating. They got on stage in plain clothes, t-shirt and jeans. They didn't need to put on a persona or classify themselves as a certain genre. They just got on stage and played their music, and did it well. They allowed their influences to shine through them, but did it in a style all their own.
Anyone would have enjoyed this show, regardless of misconceptions of punk rock. The proof lays with the parents who brought their kids to the show and the 60 year old man with green hair, they were dancing just as hard as the teenagers.
For more information and to find out about up coming shows please visit;
http://www.myspace.com/secretions
http://www.myspace.com/thequeers
www.thequeersrock.com
http://www.myspace.com/theenlows
http://www.myspace.com/thenogoodniksrock
Although as a reader, I am generally way out of my depth in reading reviews such as this, there were any number of familiar touchstones - including Danny Secretion (famous in a local sense) and, of course, Dick Dale.
ReplyDeleteSurfing icon Dick Dale's music has lit up generations and, according to the reviewer, still does.
And this band is not a young group, either.
This review offer a lot for almost all readers, even if the music scene outlined isn't totally familiar.
I was left wondering about the name of the group, though it can be linked to the Joe Queer, of course.
Nicely done...