by Joseph Scott
They all looked like Sarah Palin. That’s the first thing I noticed at the Reverend Horton Heat, Nashville Pussy, Reckless Kelly show at Asheville’s venerable Orange Peel wednesday night. All the psychobilly girls there to see the show looked like tatted up, heavily pierced Sarah Palins. The hair. The glasses. The social conservatism – well, perhaps not.
Reckless Kelly took the stage at 8 o’clock sharp to warm up the fashionably late arriving crowd with their hard hitting country. Meanwhile one of the goth Sarah Plains informs me that she is really sore today because she just had the studs removed from her sternum, surely marking the first time in human history those words have been strung together to form that sentence. Anyway, the show went on as Reckless Kelly put on a entertaining and energetic opener, tearing through crowd pleasers like “Wicked Twisted Road”, “Sixgun” and “American Blood” in their rollicking 40 minute set, winning the approval of a crowd largely unfamiliar with their work.
Nashville Pussy raised the stakes next with their joyous brand of sleazy redneck rock and roll. Igniting the crowd with anthems like “Come On Come On”, “Whiskey and Hate”, and “Going Down Swinging”, wining everyone over with their Motorhead meets Lynyrd Skynyrd brand of rock. Birthday girl Ruyter Suys particularly stole the show, showing us what a guitar hero really is, and sharing her birthday cake with the front row.
The right Reverend Horton Heat then graced the now full congregation with his presence. Showing us all that rockabilly, psycho or otherwise, is not only alive and kicking but still the coolest cat on campus. Duck walking, bass surfing and righteous riffs got the crowd on it’s collective feet and dancing. The Reverend anointed us with his word, “I Can’t Surf”, “Where the Hell Did You Go with my Toothbrush?” and of course “Psychobilly Freakout” particularly standing out. It was good, and the masses saw that it was good.
The Reverend Horton Heat tent revival will be winding it’s way up the eastern seaboard over the next month or so. If it rolls through your neighborhood, give the Reverend a fair hearing. All will come away pleased. Just between you and me though, I don’t think he’s really a reverend.
