The Day After

Jay Reatard @ Black Cat - July 5th, 2009 - $12

When the fireworks have fallen, the beer is warm and stale, the potato salad has turned, and the weekend is finally over, what else can you do but get back out there and keep on keepin' on?

We ventured to the Black Cat's backstage Monday night to get a look at Jay Reatard and his hairbandied extravaganza. The man has a fountain of hair that just seemed to spurt out of the top of his melon in a massive stream covering 360 degrees of his head. His band mate guitarist had equally impressive hair, both reminiscent (as Jimbromski said) of Hurley from LOST.

Neither Jimbromski nor I were terribly familiar with Mr. Reatard's catalog, but we knew he played fast and that things could get physical (not in the Barry White nor Olivia Newton John sort, mind you). The backstage was packed for this set and despite my giraffe neck, I never did see the drummer in the back. Indeed, a mosh pit formed, and at one point play was halted due to excessive hair-pulling.

Punk with a touch of pop. Most of the songs were pseudo metal, mostly punk, and occasionally sugary for a radio-friendly sound. Here's just a tiny snippet:

T.V. Smith, of 1970s punk band The Adverts, opened for Jay Reatard and returned to the stage for the only song I truly recognized: Gary Gilmore's Eyes. If you don't know anything about Gary Gilmore, or this song, it's actually quite fascinating. Gilmore murders two in Utah in July of 1976. Convicted and sentenced to die, he chooses to be shot versus being hanged. Asked if he had any last words, he says, "Let's do it." According to wikipedia, within hours of his execution, and complying with his request, two people received Gary Gilmore's transplanted corneas. There begins the connection to The Adverts' song. We probably erred by not checking out TV Smith, who I mistakenly referred to as "TV Set" at one point in the evening.

A few more details. We were pleased to see Mark Kapiloff (aka Everywhere Man, That Guy, Wandering Mark) en route to the club. It had been a while. Glad he is still a man about town. Also seen that night was Ahmad, the blind avid concert goer, who continues to out-rock us.

Lastly, behind Jimbromski's head you'll see Jay Reatard interacting with his fans. I think he looks a little like a young Meatloaf.