Sunglasses After Dark 21st Birthday (The Tote, Sun 21 Oct 2001).

It’s too loud and I’m too old. But a good cause, a good show (The Redresser, Mustang, Casanovas, Speed Demons, Fez Perez and Six Foot Hick), a full house and a good time had by all who survived.

The Redresser: New York Dolls do Bauhaus. (The singer, Anthony, claims never to have heard the New York Dolls. See pictures from an April show.) Some Lords Of The New Church as well. The songs are catchy and foot-tapping. A crowd of club-going g*ths dressed to the nines, which is a pleasant novelty at a rock show.

Mustang have twice the members of the Powder Monkeys for half or less the sound (© Liz) and none of the songs. Hundreds disagreed with me. Thank the Lord for beer gardens.

The Casanovas are unglamorous (well, ugly) and play straight-up, faintly Detroit-leaning, indie rock’n’roll. Like, with a tune and a beat. Delivering sheer unpretentious quality. A nice change from everything-faster-than-everything-else. I-94 Bar needs to know about these guys. (I think I’ll start using ‘I-94 bar’ as a modern-day synonym for ‘Detroit’.) The porn-star moustache has got to go, though …

The Speed Demons are Smeer’s latest vehicle. “This song is about the croissant. Some may see them as an inactive thing that you eat. But I see them as EVIL.” Mid-paced rock’n’roll, more punky and metally than what the Casanovas put out. Worth bothering to stay for when we really didn’t feel like it.

Fez Perez are not a novelty band, they just present themselves as one. The music is generic but okay, and the stage presence reeks of showmanship. You can tell I spent most of the set in the beer garden, can’t you. Stayed for two songs of Six Foot Hick, who are the only band I can think of with dual athletic lead singers. I think their songs are getting faster, though it may just be me.

The trouble with almost all bands anywhere is that they go fifteen minutes too long. Thirty minutes is quite enough for anyone not to suck, particularly at a six-band show. But, oh well.

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