Rumble

A few weeks ago, I caught Veruca Salt at the Hi-Dive. Even in their heyday, they were never more than a blip on my pop culture radar. We have two of their CD’s, both have their moments, but they were hardly one of my musical obsessions at the time. I had no idea they were even still around, and my curiosity got the better of me so I decided to check them out. The li’l woman and I saw them about 9 or 10 years ago – we had gone to catch warm-up act The Muffs, and stuck around to see if the headliners were any good. They were terrific and I’ve kept that memory all this time, so I guess that was enough to give them another try.

Pulling into an empty parking space in front of the club, I couldn’t help but notice the massive tour bus parked right behind me. All I could think was “how can they even afford the gas for that thing, playing a tour of dinky little clubs?” Going into the Hi-Dive, I found the club to be fairly full but no familiar faces. Hearing snippets of conversation made me feel a bit old for the crowd – a heard a couple of fans comparing what year they were in grade school when American Thighs came out! Oh, and just to keep things rooted in the 90’s there were a couple of boneheads running into as many people as possible. I guess they were trying to start a mosh pit! (They were eventually ejected by a couple of other guys from the audience – I don’t think there was anyone working security that night).

The show was pretty enjoyable, even if it felt like a 90’s flashback. Singer Louise Post (sadly, not quite the “alterna-babe” she was in the grunge era) is the only original member, but her current band was tight and the crowd was really vocal in their enjoyment. I recognized a few tunes – All Hail Me, Spiderman ’79, Seether – but I saw people singing along with every song. So, I guess Veruca Salt were an important band for some people back in the day. I don't think I need to see them again, but it certainly didn't feel like a wasted evening.

The next night, I caught a show with the Reigning Sound and the Detroit Cobras. I was out with a group of guys for a “bachelor evening,” and from what I can recall it was a pretty good time! Afterwards, we went to see a local band called Suzy Homewrecker at the Lion’s Lair. I had never heard them, and a couple of the guys warned me that they were “a really bad punk band.” Well, I ended up being pleasantly surprised – they played goofy pop punk tunes, and were fronted by a quirky girl with a really squeaky voice. Pretty amusing if nothing amazing, and especially enjoyable when compared to the truly awful “serious” local punk bands I’ve seen in that lousy venue.

Oh, and I also caught the Briefs and the Bellrays the weekend prior to that…

RIP – Link Wray and Sam (“the world’s ugliest dog”)