Friday nite I went to Rhumba cafe' and saw ? and the Mysterians.
They are the band most known for the song "96 Tears".
Thankfully they graced columbus with their presence, and thankfully I didn't stay home and veg out like I originally planned.
I arrived to see the band Vegas 66 playing the opening set. They were a pretty good Rockabilly band, who mainly played original music, with a smattering of covers, by the Stray Cats and Elvis Presley.
After a brief break and a pint of Guinness, a rather crusty individual with a whiskey slur, and a voice marred by WAAAY too many unfiltered cigarettes came up and introduced the band. At that point, four older mexican gentlemen made their way to their respective instruments, and then ? sauntered up and greeted the crowd with "Are ya'll ready to rock and roll BA-bay?"
They started off pretty slowly as I must admit I expected. With each following song, they gathered more momentum, and became more and more comfortable on stage.
They ended up doing a good amount of their old rowdy/sexy garage standards-
I need somebody
(Girl) You captivate me
Got to
Do you feel it (excellent song which showed just how tight the band still is)
and ?, even though his singing voice was a tad bit weak, knew how to get the crowd motivated, and folks were writhing, jumping, and just grooving to his requests to "Feel it Ba-Bay!" He was an excellent performer, almost like a mexican Iggy Pop, but cooler.
They also did a couple of great covers- James Brown's "Try Me" which I must say, I have never heard a cover of, and the Stone's "I can't get no satisfaction.
Their signature piece- "96 tears" was then played, almost as an afterthought, and by the time they performed it, the crowd was already too hyped up for it to make a big deal.
Well, I take that back.
There were audience members there that I am SURE either saw them live back in 66'-67', or was listening to them back then.
They were the ones who immediately recognized the very recognizable keyboard line in that song, and they went bananas upon hearing it.
All in all, I am very happy I got off my lazy duff and went to check out the band credited with being the first mexican garage band to reach #1 in the billboard charts, and the band considered by some to be the first "punk rock' band.
These geezers were well worth the $15 cover I plunked down.
It was a great performance, and if you get the chance, check em' out live cuz' given their ages, I'm not too sure how much longer they will be able to keep doing this.
Peace.
