The Swamp Gospel, Mizz Absurd, the Psyatics, DJ Xerox, Professor Rex Dart, Cramps Copycat Night at the Golden Tiki, Saturday Mar 30, 2019

DJ Xerox from Otto's Shrunken Head in NYC decided to take his Copycat De Lux nights, where a band does a set of half originals and half covers of a certain band, on the road and for his stop in Las Vegas, he came to the Golden Tiki and invited the Swamp Gospel, Mizz Absurd and the Psyatics, as well as DJ Rex Dart, to join him for this evening dedicated to the Cramps.

I have been a Cramps fan since I got their initial 45 when it came out and my fanaticism solidified when I got to see them in 1979 with Bryan Gregory at the Whiskey and then innumerable times after that. I got to know the members somewhat and the group has been an influence on my music and style throughout the years, so this night was a natural for me. The Gospel definitely has some Cramps-ian touch stones, as well, so it was not a big stretch to work up a set of tunes - we couldn't whittle down the number of songs that we wanted to do so we did an entire set of their numbers. Melanie went all-out in her Poison Ivy-ish outfit and I did a mix of Lux and Kid Congo and musically mixed them and Ivy all together. Mostly working from Songs the Lord Taught Us and Psychedelic Jungle, we also pulled out their fantastic single, "New Kind of Kick" and, from one of our favorite zombie movies, "Surfin' Dead". Although we went on early (we like to play first), there was a good, enthusiastic crowd for us set and we had a blast.

(Swamp Gospel photos by John Armstrong)

Coming from Hollywood and Las Vegas (that's what her FB page says), Mizz Absurd apparently normally plays solo with an upright bass but has just been joined by an electric violinist and has moved to electric bass. With the use of a few pedals to fill out the sound, the duo ran through some classics like "Why Don't You Do Right" as well as Cramps numbers like their cover of "Fever", "New Kind of Kick" (again! It's a great song - Fur Dixon is doing it in her set, as well) and a terrific mash-up of "Flight of the Bumblebee" (highlighted by the violin) and "Human Fly". Totally fun set!

The Psyatics combined 5 Cramps tunes within a set of originals for a late-night orgy of noise and chaos. The Golden Tiki stage is a challenge for any group with three or more members, so for the Psyatics, guitarist Jack put his pedal board on stage and stalked the audience. Frankly, our Cramps numbers were a bit under rehearsed, but it was all still good fun and we pulled out a new number and some classic Psy-tunes.

Thanks again to DJ Xerox/Evan, Professor Rex Dart, the Golden Tiki, Mizz Absurd and everyone who came out for this wacky night!