Friday, September 19, 2003

Went to see the Cramps last night in Amsterdam and I'm sorry to report that it was absolutely dismal. Of course, the Paradiso is hardly the place to be on a hot (late-)summer night, esp when filled to the rafters the temperatures there quickly reach boiling level, couple that with a chain smokin' crowd and no ventilation to speak of, and we're off to a seriously bad start....
First up were the Riots, a band from my hometown so I would have given 'em the benefit of doubt in most other situations, but their brand of Motorhead/Zeke-styled "rawk", failed to impress. Maybe it was the crappy sound (all drums 'n vocals), but I couldn't find any tunes or riffs to latch onto. Oh well, maybe another time...
When the Cramps came on I was ready to get all excited, but alas, it was not to be. And even tho' the sound had improved somewhat, they sounded lumpy and seemed to be plodding along. Ivy still looks cool, but havin' seen 'em so many times over the years it was obvious Lux was just goin' thru' the motions, the other two guys could have been you, me or your mother, nobody would've noticed the difference. So I did what I hardly ever do, I just left after 20 minutes or so, no time to waste 'n all that. Or maybe it was just that after seeing Radio Birdman earlier in the week actually enjoying their time on stage (jeez, Deniz Tek was smiling at one point !), I couldn't be bothered to watch a pale copy of what once was the wildest show around, who knows.
(Social observation: the crowd of aging psychobillies and "rockers" gave a good indication of what to expect when the current hordes of pierced 'n tattooed idiots will get older and their flesh starts saggin' and their "tats" fadin'. Believe me, there are frightening times ahead of us....).



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