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Fortunately, things don't always run on time at the Abbey, so I have not missed Alan Devine's set. He is fronting a three-piece band, singing lead and playing guitar. When I walk in, it's kind of countrified, but it soon settles into a sort of mellow rock and roll. Simple and direct. The vocals are not very strong, though the bassist's backing vocals are good. But it's the guitar that grabs my attention, as I rather suspected it would be. He calmly tosses out some quietly amazing solos, and if he gets a little lost in one of them, it's nice to see someone taking real risks.
The Drags do nothing calmly or quietly. Richie Hoss still presents a challenge to a reviewer, as I need a word that means "gravelly," only VASTLY moreso. You've never heard so rough a voice. Yet I'm struck, seeing them a second time, by how tuneful his singing actually is, despite its raspy tone, and there's even some harmony in the backing vocals. There are guitar heroics aplenty, flashy and outrageous and very satisfying. Fun, goofy songs, solid drumming, and beefcake; it's a Rock Show.
Reverend Glasseye and His Wooden Legs are really not my thing. Schticky and heavily influenced by the swing revival that I could not wait to see the retreating back of in the mid-'90s, they couldn't possibly help annoying me, despite their skillful playing, passionately energetic delivery, and humor. The drumming is very well done and smooth, but, well, smooth. Mellow, quiet, jazzy drumming that gets completely lost with everything else that's going on. There's organ, trumpet, saxophone, and stand-up bass, but very little instrumentation that has any balls to it. And his voice is a nightmare; he's got this bizarre ultra-vibrato that sounds like a rapid train of hiccups, and he does it a LOT. There is much here to like, I think, but none of it is for me.
Consequently, I am really, really ready for some Collisions. They seem a little bit sloppy at the beginning of the set: some of this is technical difficulties, but Bo's always-wild performing energy veers dangerously out of control at times, and there are some consistency issues in the rhythm at a couple of points. Plus they have, not to put too fine a point on it, a stripper perform during "Gasoline Can." Which turns out to be a perfect song for it, what with that rich, deep, indelibly sexy bass line and the "She's naked and lonely" refrain. And she's pretty good, with a decent sense of tease and build-up. But it certainly contributes to the out of control feel of the set. They do pull themselves together as the set progresses, and the later songs are much tighter, without sacrificing any of the energy. They close with the set-pleasing Johnathon Richman cover that they're known for, stretching it out to epic lengths and inserting a bit of the song that they didn't do instead in the middle.
