Thee Fourgiven, the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs, the Electric Ferrets, Blackbird Days at the Redwood, Los Angeles, Saturday Sept 30, 2017

Yes, I'm talking about another out of town show that I played - what are ya gonna do about it?

For the last of the trio of shows for Thee Fourgiven, our pals the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs set up this gig at the Redwood with our old gigging buddies, the Electric Ferrets, and Cheetahs' pals, Blackbird Days.

Blackbird Days opened the night with their kinda noisy/kinda dreamy original sounds. The female lead singer also played some cool/cacophonous lead guitar, backed by a powerful female drummer and a couple of guys (to balance things out) on second guitar and fuzz-ridden bass. Most songs were fairly mid-tempo with plenty of melodies'n'harmonies and they were a catchy way to start the night.

I've known and ranted'n'raved about the Streetwalkin' Cheetahs for years (and even played with them on a tour and some recordings) so take that as you will. They put in a high-energy set, with non-stop action from frontman Frank and bassist Dino, while Bruce added some cool guitar work (he is an excellent lead guitarist who plays off of Frank well) and harmonies and Mike kept things together with his solid drumming. They pull out tunes from their numerous records and steal from the best ("Circle Sky", "Surrender", etc.) and brought out a sax-playin' pal for several tunes - "TV Eye", "Miss Teen USA", "Shawna", "Motor Citty Rock'n'Roll" and a fairly unhinged "Black to Comm". Great set!

Thee Fourgiven had a hard time following the Cheetahs' chaos, but did our best, as we ran through songs from our three albums and a couple compilation cuts ("Spiders in the Sink" and "Yeah"). I did my best to compete with Frank's frontman madness while avoiding busting any guitars this time out! Mucho thanks to Ray and Bela for returning for one more gig!

(4G pix from Bob Blackburn)

The reformed Electric Ferrets are still as electrifying as ever, with their mix of punk, garage and plain ol' rock'n'roll. Opening with "This Ain't the Summer of Love" (a combination of BOC's and Imperial Dogs' versions) they blasted through old'n'new songs, through in some psychedelia, jumped around, rolled on the floor with fans and spilled various libations! They kept the crowd and entertained through the end of the night!

Thank you again to all of the bands, to the Redwood and to Ray'n'Bela for a fun Fourgiven reunion!