Wolfmother/Black Lips At Merc Lounge

I arrived at this show not really knowing what to expect. I had only heard about 2-3 songs by Wolfmother and I thought they were decent. The hype storm around them made me buy tickets just because they were cheap and I wanted to see what was up. I got there unusually early and decided to grab some pizza before the show. Famous Original Ray's shouldn't be famous and it's not very original.

Anyway, I made my way into the Merc Lounge during the middle of the first bands set. I have no idea who they were but I wasn't digging it. I decided standing at the bar and drinking a $4 PBR was a much better idea. After they cleared the stage I made my way back into the performance room and grabbed a seat while the next band set up.

Before this show I had never heard of the Black Lips before and now I can honestly say I'll never forget them. Within 30 seconds of the first song I jumped out of my seat and grabbed a spot against the stage. The music was just killer rock n' roll - kinda like Kings Of Leon meets Swamp Rats. My brother went for a simpler explanation and just said they sound like the Kinks.

The first thing I noticed about the band was the guitar player. He was short and had a creepy porno mustache. On top of that he was wearing a pink tie-dye shirt with half cut sleeves and the neck band removed. On top sat a shitty Kool cigarette hat that they give away at bars as promotional items - the brim was straight and the back was buttoned. He also had some weird gold chain with a medallion on it, which added to the whole porn thing.

The next thing I noticed was the little tiny amps. They were playing out of practice amps - the really small kind you played in your bedroom in 7th grade. Actually, one guy had a half stack but it was still pretty weak looking. All of these things just told me something weird was about to happen. The tunes were sloppy as fuck and a few times they actually had to restart entire songs. Coming from a small town DIY background this was kinda refreshing for me.

They played way more songs than they were supposed to and eventually the sound guy killed the mics, turned on the lights, and blasted the house music. That didn't stop Black Lips - they just cranked up their amps and kept playing "one more song". The last song had no vocals but that didn't seem to matter - it wasn't about the music at that point.

What happened next will go down as the craziest thing I have ever seen at a show. During the last song the creepy mustache guy pulls out his dick, runs across the stage, and starts making out with his bass player. Ok, big fucking deal right? Then this twisted fuck walks over to the middle of the stage kneels down and starts pissing on the stage. Oh and then it gets good - he gets up, grabs his dick, aims it towards his face and starts pissing in his own mouth! To top it all off he then spits his pissy saliva all over the goddamn crowd.

I was absolutely in awe of this crazy fuck - GG Allin would have been proud. Afterwards people lined up to shake this piss-soaked maniac's hand. It was so punk rock and I feel like I've been ruined for life. How can any band compete with this? They can't. I was shocked and I've never been shocked in my life. Long live Black Lips.

Next up was Wolfmother - seriously at this point who fucking cares, really? They started their set standing in a puddle of piss. They weren't at all what I heard on those MP3's I discovered and I left about three songs in. I keep hearing people compare them to Sabbath and Bleach-era Nirvana. I didn't hear either to be honest They sounded like Bleach-era Soundgarden being raped by Rush. I wasn't digging these guys at all. When your band is 25 years old and all of the people there to see you are 45 years old, maybe you took the retro thing a little too far.

Wolfmother

Black Lips