Groovie Ghoulies, Demolition Doll Rods, The Cramps – House of Blues, Las Vegas, 11-2-06

Groovie Ghoulies, Demolition Doll Rods, The Cramps – House of Blues, Las Vegas, 11-2-06

Yee-haw! What a night of fun, sexy, silly & scary (sometimes all at once!) rock’n’roll! Gorgeous girls, skinny, wild frontmen, and great music – what more could you ask for?!

The night started at the absurd hour of 6:30 (!!) with the Groovie Ghoulies and their Ramones-styled bouncy punk-pop and they had the kids dancing (really! No shit!) from the first blast from Roach’s guitar! Kepi is still the eternal teenager – he looks great and pogos almost non-stop as he sings while playing bass. Relative new-comer Scampi is yet another ultra-cool female drummer – where do they keep finding them?! The GG’s kept taking requests from the audience and never turned one down – from their hits like “Island of Pogo-Pogo” and “Beast With 5 Hands” to brand new tunes. We hadn’t seen them in years but they’re still a complete blast and still some of the nicest people in r’n’r! Support them every way that you can!! Their new record, Berry’d Alive is a batch of Chuck Berry tunes given the patented GG touch, with superb packaging from Tom Neely! Get it!

The Demolition Doll Rods is another band that we hadn’t experienced in many a moon and they were also better than ever! Margaret and Danny Doll Rods (both on guitar and vocals – no bassist) are now joined by Tia “Baby Doll” Doll Rod on drums, who was cute & sexy while pounding on her two drums (which she plays while standing up) and trying to keep from falling out of her skimpy bikini! In fact, all three members wore bikinis of some sort – even Danny, another guy who remains r’n’r skinny even after years (decades?) of playing! The songs were some of their best – lots of new stuff and great covers of the Creation’s “How Does It Feel” and “Open Up Your Door” (Richard and the Young Lions), both of which they turned into sleazy sex romps! Really fun, noisy, trashy mania!

And finally, the Cramps! Again, it had been ages since we had seen these loons loose on stage and they didn’t disappoint – in fact, it was one of their best shows we had seen! With Harry Drumdini and White Zombie’s Sean Yseult on bass, Lux & Ivy still looked fantastic (though I couldn’t get used to Lux with blond, slicked back hair!) and put on an incredible show! Ivy remains the sultry siren on guitar with a mass of red curls, and Sean echoes the look with her similar mane flanking Lux, who has calmed down slightly and is less maniacally self-destructive, but is still one of the best frontmen ever! Fans couldn’t ask for a better set list, with some of their most-loved tunes, from Goo-Goo Muck, Teenage Werewolf, Sunglasses After Dark, Most Exalted Potentate of Love, right through to their crazed closer, Psychotic Reaction. Lux still leaves a swath of destruction in his wake – wine bottles, broken mikes, mike stands bent in two (and more!) – so watch it, but be sure to see it! They just celebrated their 30th anniversary of their first show and they are showing no signs of stopping! I wouldn’t have believed how good they were if I hadn’t seen it – definitely check them out whenever you can!

Truly a wild, wacky night of fabulous noise! Thanks to all of the bands for bringing their madness to Las Vegas!