Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Eagles of Death Metal @ Phoenix Theatre

AC/DC singer Bon Scott once said of the band’s songs, “All the songs we do are basically about one of three things: booze, sex or rock ‘n’ roll.” Shortly after, Scott choked to death on his own vomit. Its a musical formula that the Eagles of Death Metal have been following to the letter, ever since Queens of the Stone Age singer/guitarist Josh Homme and his friend Jesse Hughes decided to start a band about six years ago, and the results are what had fans packed into the Phoenix last Wednesday for one of NXNE’s kickoff shows. With Homme busy playing full-time in the “don’t-call-it-a-super-group” super-group Them Crooked Vultures, and longtime touring bassist Brian O’Connor undergoing cancer treatment, the lineup was rounded out with drummer Joey Castillo, guitarist Dave Catching, and Dean Fertita of Queens/The Dead Weather stepping in for O’Connor. However the face of the band is – and always will be – Hughes, and he didn’t disappoint live. Swaggering around on stage like Mick Jagger, if Jagger had grown up in the California desert and kept the company of roadhouse strippers instead of French models, the frontman nicknamed “Boots Electric” had the rowdy audience eating out of the palm of his hand. Whether it be pulling out a comb from his pocket to slick back his mustache, inviting girls onstage to dance (which prompted many eager responses, and several bras), or windmilling through fan favourites including “Cherry Cola”, “Wannabe in L.A.”, and “I Want You So Hard (Boy’s Bad News)”, Hughes never stopped being entertaining to watch. This approach to performing mirrors the band’s music perfectly – the Eagles make completely unpretentious, slightly goofy, garage rock ‘n’ roll songs about drinking, dames, and dancing, that only have two speeds – fast and faster. And you know what? Sometimes there ain’t a damn thing wrong with that.

Website: http://www.eaglesofdeathmetal.com/
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/eaglesofdeathmetal