For the past week or so a quiet voice has been reminding me, " The Butthole Surfers are coming...and there's nothing you can do about it..". It wasn't a precursor to insanity or anything, it was just my roommate Matt. He's the biggest Butthole fan I've met in along time. It was actually what we bonded over when I first moved in with him. The first time I heard them I was maybe 9, on a mix tape my mom made me when my parents were going on vacation. I love my mom, she got me into some really age inappropriate music back in the day. Then there was the time back in grade 6 when some girls at school stole my diary and made fun of me for having a crush on someone named 'Gibby'. Looking back, why the hell did I even bring my diary to school in the first place?
Anyways, I've loved Butthole Surfers for years, and always wanted to see them. In the past the tours they've done have been met with mostly mixed reviews, due in part to a couple bad albums and different members. This tour is exciting because they're playing only old material and it's the original lineup. Their early records/ antics are really what they're known for. I mean, I love 'Pepper' ( from Electriclarryland) as much as the next person (except Matt), but it's the early stuff off Independent Worm Saloon, Rembrandt Pussyhorse, and Hairway to Steven ( which is the best album name ever) that really defines what the Butthole Surfers are. They are the visual representation of what it's like to completely and utterly out of your mind. The band is known for their prolific drug use in the early years as much as for their music, maybe even more so.
These days though, they have a much more toned down stage dynamic than in the past. As in, they were clothed the entire time and not overtly tweaking out. You can't blame them though, those guys are getting old. Gibby Haynes was peering out to the crowd over thick glasses, Paul Leary (guitar) looks like the coolest older dude in a dark bar, Teresa Taylor (drums) looked out of it in a way that at times almost seemed like she wasn't playing. King Coffey ( drums) doesn't seem to have aged very much at all though, which is kind of unnerving. It's just kind of weird you know...like, a band I grew up with is now doing a reunion tour and they're OLD. I'm not even that old, and it makes me nostalgic in the best way imaginable.
The best songs, as agreed upon by a cab full of wasted fans were 'The Shah Sleeps at Lee Harvey's Grave', 'Negro Observer' and my personal favorite 'Goofy's Concern'. I can't say honestly that I knew every song they were playing, and truth be told I wasn't completely blown away by the show; it wasn't life changing. But it was still totally worth not seeing Os Mutantes. I wouldn't have rather been seeing anyone else tonight.
Oh, and the fact that I can even do this review is a miracle in and of itself. I was told as a direct quote from Gibby a few hours before the show that media wasn't going to be needed at the show because " I don't need their help". Thanks to a guy named Ryan for hooking me up a ticket. I saw two other photographers get taken down by security, but I'm craftier than your average bear. Sorry guys, but there's no way I wasn't taking some photos.
After all these years I'm really glad I was able to see the Butthole Surfers, and especially with all the original members and older material, and I even liked that they've reached a sort of mature level of showmanship. They remain one of my favorite bands of the 90's and the only thing I regret is not seeing them in Montreal Thursday with Lullaybe Arkestra. After all these years, I still kind of have a thing for Gibby, even though he totally dissed photographers and had a beer gut. Anyone want to road trip to Detroit tonight to see them?
