Rocket
From The Tombs
@ Graceland, Seattle
November 23, 2003
When I first heard RFTT some 10 years ago, I never in my wildest dream thought
I'd someday see them live. I think I probably had dreams of seeing them play,
only to wake up and realize the dream was just that. When I heard from Craig
Bell a couple of months ago that RFTT were due to tour and hit Seattle, I
was, to put it mildly, extremely stoked.
Sunday night, I walked through the doors of a club I've been in many, many
times, seen many a band there, and even graced the stage with my own bands
a number of times. The opening act, Miminikoto was on stage, and the less
said about his sorry excuse for "music", the better. I'm pretty
open-minded guy, but this was one of the sorriest excuses for rock music I've
seen in a long time. I swear, as I walked in and heard noise coming from the
showroom, I thought it was a band tuning up and checking their gear. Only
after walking in and watching for five minutes did I realize they were actually
performing. So, if your idea of music is three guys all playing completely
different things at the same time while the one of them occasionally yelled
nonsensical things into the mike, you might dig them. Not me, I walked into
the bar in the other room and got a strong drink.
The Catheters were up next, and while the guitar was a bit low for part of
the set, they were entertaining as always. They played some familiar stuff,
a couple of new ones and a rocking version of the Wailers' "Hang Up".
When, about halfway through their set, the guitarist broke a string and picked
up another guitar, he suddenly got way louder and then they really cooked!
During their last song something rather hilarious happened. The singer suddenly launched himself off the stage, landing on the floor as people scattered around him, writhing and screaming like a maniac. He then jumped up, ran across the floor straight toward the second level where the booths are, jumped over the ledge, again causing people to jump out of his way, and crashed right into the soundman's control booth! Without missing a beat or a vocal line, he leapt back over the ledge as he continued singing in the middle of the floor, hopped back on stage, picked up his jacket and put it on, and as the last chords rang out, exited the stage!
By now the place was literally packed with people and I noticed a lot of
Seattle rock luminaries in attendance. After a small wait, RFTT (David Thomas,
Cheetah Chrome, Richard Lloyd, Craig Bell and Steve Mehlman) entered the stage
and kicked off with the semi-instro "Frustration". Then it was right
into "So Cold" and "What Love Is".
David introduces Cheetah and said: "He's going to sing this one,"
and went and sat down in a chair. They launched into "Ain't It Fun"
with Chrome's gravelly voice perfectly capturing the angst and despair of
this classic tune. Thomas regained his composure to join in on the choruses.
Next he introduced Craig Bell to sing his wonderful "Muckraker".
Next came "30 Seconds Over Tokyo", during which Thomas alternately
sang, sat down during instrumental portions, and glared mischievously at the
audience. Suddenly, he'd stand up and point at the two guitarists as they
took solos, waving his handkerchief over his head, and acting like he was
conducting the band with his cane!
Versions of "Sonic Reducer"and "Never Gonna Kill Myself Again"
followed, again featured more wild gesturing from Thomas, as he lumbered about
the stage, occasionally reaching into his jacket pocked to retrieve a flask
from which he took sips here and there, and then glared at the audience, or
waved his cane high above his head. Cheetah sang the departed Peter Laughner's
"Amphetamine", they broke into "Down In Flames" and ended
with an amazing "Final Solution". After a few minutes of people
shouting "Rocket, Rocket", Craig Bell strolled on stage, picked
up his bass and began playing the intro to "Life Stinks". The rest
of RFTTs came on and joined in.
They did a great, extended version that featured much great guitar interplay
from Chrome and Lloyd, and Thomas doing some sort of crazy pantomime thing,
waving his hands and screaming "Life stinks, I'm seeing pink, I'm on
the brink, I can't think, I can't wink, I can't blink, I need a drink, I like
the Kinks!" Then it was over.
A few minutes later, the band was back, greeting fans signing stuff and selling
shorts of their "The Day The Earth Met..." CD as well as new one
called "Rocket Redux" that features them playing their live set
at EGB studios in New York. It sounds great. Sure it's all old songs, but
given that all those original 1974-75 recordings that make up "The Day
The Earth Met.." itās not surprising they wanted to rerecord stuff in
better sound quality.
Overall, RFTTs did nothing short of fulfill a dream to one day see them play.
They played all the songs with conviction and energy, and kept to the original
arrangements that they used in the original RFTTs days. I can't wait until
they come back!! - Alan Wright
