Show Overview: Rockabilly Riot 1 Year Anniversary Show - April 30th 2011
Overview & Video: Isaac ThompsonPhotos: Tiffany Naugler
Rockabilly Riot 1 Year Anniversary ShowApril 30th 2011
Featuring Special Guests:
Ginger St James fr Hamilton ON
www.gingerstjames.com
Miss Magenta from Tainted Temple Burlesque
The Trouble Shooters tribute to Chuck Berry
www.sonicbids.com/thetroub
The Whiskey Kisses tribute to Wanda Jackson
http://www.thewhiskeykisse
What a night! The Rockabilly Riot folks know how to put on a show and even though their original venue (the Seahorse) almost caught on fire - resulting in the show being moved to the Elephant & Castle – these folks put on a spectacle of sex and rock and roll that’s hard to beat.
The Whiskey Kisses started things off with a spot-on tribute to the great Wanda Jackson. The band sounded on fire, they had high energy and an excellent pool of material to work with. Even though the band sports some local veterans (including members of Dead Red, Nerd Army and the Dean Malenkos) it was the vocalist who stood out the most for me ; her voice exuded amazing power and control. I even overheard the sound guy say that she was the most powerful singer he’s ever had the pleasure to mix for. The band boogie woogied their way through a set of classic rock and roll and shocked the dance floor to life.
Next up, the Trouble Shooters played a bee-bopping, swinging set of Chuck Berry tunes. They nailed that shit to the wall. The vocalist had the perfect old-timey rock & roll voice and the horn section was off the hook. The rhythm section also kept thing hammered down, with drums as steady as a freight train. The band started off with a cover of Chuck’s “School Day” while the super-sexy burlesque dancer Miss Magenta, treated the audience to a jaw dropping strip tease. As the videographer it was hard to concentrate on the filming while Magenta danced, she was as mesmerizing as Chuck berry is Awesome. The Trouble Shooters threw a few originals our way as well, including a sweet riff off of the old Blues standard “Sweet Home Chicago” called “Sweet Home Nova Scotia”. If you have a chance to see the Trouble Shooters, take it!
After the Trouble Shooter’s set, Miss Magenta came back out in a grass skirt and performed another awe-inspiring strip tease. It was awesome. Really, more bands should have burlesque dancers play in between the sets, it’s much more interesting that watching an empty stage and waiting for the next band to start.
Hamilton Ontario’s Ginger St James closed the night with a set of original songs that nicely fit in with the theme of the evening. she played a couple solo acoustic offerings, showing off her rich voice, before being joined by the Trouble Shooters (who had taken it upon themselves to learn all of Ginger’s songs) and the dance floor was once again on fire. Miss St James’ song’s were more contemporary sounding than Wanda Jackson or Chuck Berry, but they kept the 50’s rock and roll feel intact.
It was an evening that represented what rock and roll is all about in the first place: having fun. There were folks teaching swing dancing, all kinds of nifty merch for sale and tons of people dressed in sweet 50’s outfits (poodle dresses and suits & ties). If you want a little more bang for your buck than long haired shoe-gazers and ironic mustaches, I suggest you give the Rockabilly Riot a whirl. As Chuck Berry would say: You’ll be feeling the music from head to toe, so round and round and round we go.
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See all the photos from this show HERE.
See all our videos HERE.
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