For 25 years, The Reverend Heat has been leaving a trail of destruction across the globe as they tear the roof off every venue they stumble upon,Last night Brisbane rockabilly aficionados got just what they bargained for as the Texan trio lit up the stage at West End’s Hi-Fi bar.
The Reverend Horton Heat, Also know are joined tonight by Melbourne trio DOUBLEBLACK, and Brisbane locals Men Into Space who are up first.
When the lights came on, The small crowd already gathered seemed stunned at the four guys in space suits, playing space-themed rockabilly songs. One of them had converted his guitar to accommodate a lap-steel guitar and a keyboard, while the other guitarist had a theremin attached to his. If you look past the costumes and the custom instruments, chances are you’ll have a hard time finding something special about this performance.
DOUBLEBLACK were up next. From the moment they walked out on stage, until the moment the lights went down on their underrated half-hour set they kept the audience involved and bashed out some great songs. Hard-hitting guitar riffs, a solid base line, and damn talented drummer; these guys are a must see.
The time has come for The Reverend Horton Heat to take the stage, and they stroll casually into the spotlight. Without wasting any time on small talk the dive head first into “Psychobilly Freakout” – a fast-paced party starter from their debut album Smoke ‘Em If You Got ‘Em (1990).
Lead singer Jim Heath was sporting his signature orange Gretsch, and quite frankly, looked bored out of his mind. “That was from album number 1, this is from album number 2” – definitely a man of few words. Now it’s straight into “Lonesome Train Whistle” from second album The Full Custom Gospel Sounds Of The Reverend Horton Heat (1993).
The formula to tonight’s performance is now clear – a track from each album, one through ten; which is a refreshing change to the gimmicky “full album” shows bands tend to be so fond of lately. Luckily, they didn’t simply stop at ten songs – they followed this performance with a recollection of their biggest hit singles throughout their career, and threw in a couple of covers too. Before leading into “The Jimbo Song” – fifth in their setlist, Heath proudly exclaimed that this song was from their widely noted “worst” album, Space Heater. “…That is, according to the professionals, whoever they are.”
When the show hit the half way point, the lights go out and the band take a few minutes to tune and regroup. When the lights came back on, Heath and bassist Jimbo Wallace switch instruments – now Heath is providing a steady rythym section for Wallace’s outstanding performance of Chuck Berry’s “Johnny Be Goode”. From here they switch back and move right into another cover song, this time “Honky Tonk Night Time Man”, originally by Merle Haggard. Lights out again to re-tune the instruments.
On with some more Reverend Horton Heat fan favourites – “400 Bucks” and “Bales” before Heath launches into a sales pitch for the new live album 25 To Life, listing all the inclusions that are in the set – “you get the live DVD, the live CD, the Best Of CD, the digital download… etc. etc.” much to the dismay of the audience.
Eventually they get back on track and get on with the last two songs of the set – “Big Little Baby”, and “Devil’s Chasin’ Me”. The lights go down as the show comes to an end, but the crowd is aching for an encore. After five or so minutes of chanting, the guys make their way back onto the stage and tune. Again. After a couple of minutes more, the band each wow the crowd with a solo performance, showcasing exactly why they have been making records for 25 years. To cap the night off, they perform one last cover song – this time it is Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues”.
The reverend Horton Heat are a group of very talented musicians, but unfortunately tonight’s show was mediocre at best.
