Gypsies Now - Reviews

Scorchers put on a blistering show

By Matt Weitz, Special to The Dallas Morning News
April 25, 1995, Tuesday, HOME FINAL EDITION

ADDISON - There are teachers and there are students, a point made abundantly clear when the double bill of Sixty Six and headliners Jason and the Scorchers played Venice Beach Sunday night.

This year's local equivalent of sliced bread, Sixty Six did what any decent band should do: sound better live than on disc. Sunday night Sixty Six's Rumble-on-acid sound came off both greasy and lonesome, like a sweat-stained leather jacket that has no one to wear it.

It was great for the first bunch of songs and OK for the second.

By the final third of Sixty Six's set, the guy beside me was greeting the end of each song with "Thank you Dallas good night!"

It was a hope the band dashed again and again. "Stand and deliver" might be an appropriate motto for an 18th-century highwayman or a UPS guy, but your basic bar band needs more.

How much more was a question answered by Jason Ringenberg and the original, Lost & Found-era Scorchers. Mr. Ringenberg, resplendent in a red jacket hung with enough fringe to make Dale Evans jealous, danced and spun behind the mike with the joy of a 6-year-old deep in some Power Ranger fantasy as he belted out numbers off their new, aptly titled A Blazing Grace album: 200 Proof Lovin', One More Day of Weekend and a buzz-saw cover of Take Me Home, Country Roads that probably had John Denver twitching in his sleep.

Guitarist Warner Hodges and bassist Jeff Johnson smoked cigarettes with more stage presence than Sixty Six mustered, but it wasn't just a matter of kinetics: a band needs to present a varied sound, no matter how cool their hillbilly Lucifer persona.

The Scorchers showed how it was done, from the unexpected cover of the Byrds' Drugstore Truck Driving Man, the martial heartbreak of an unexpected Shop It Around, or the slow country fatalism of Still Tied. They absolutely stole Absolutely Sweet Marie from Bob Dylan and gave a glimpse of Hank Williams Sr. gone electric with their version of Lost Highway.

It was the old stuff that the light (not more than 200) but enthusiastic crowd - heavy on leather and long hair - had come to hear. It wasn't until the encore readings of classics like Broken Whiskey Glass and Last Time Around that the audience became a sea of shaking shoulders and whipping heads. About the only thing missing was the all-time favorite White Lies, but when the lights came up for the third and final time the crowd - flushed and exulting - didn't seem to begrudge the lack.


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News Meet The Scorchers Learn Back to Reviews > Look		Scorchers put on a blistering show By Matt Weitz, Special to The Dallas Morning News April 25, 1995, Tuesday, HOME FINAL EDITION Copyright 1995 The Dallas Morning News ADDISON - There are teachers and there are students, a point made abundantly clear when the double bill of Sixty Six and headliners Jason and the Scorchers played Venice Beach Sunday night. This year's local equivalent of sliced bread, Sixty Six did what any decent band should do: sound better live than on disc. Sunday night Sixty Six's Rumble-on-acid sound came off both greasy and lonesome, like a sweat-stained leather jacket that has no one to wear it. It was great for the first bunch of songs and OK for the second. By the final third of Sixty Six's set, the guy beside me was greeting the end of each song with "Thank you Dallas good night!" It was a hope the band dashed again and again. "Stand and deliver" might be an appropriate motto for an 18th-century highwayman or a UPS guy, but your basic bar band needs more. How much more was a question answered by Jason Ringenberg and the original, Lost & Found-era Scorchers. Mr. Ringenberg, resplendent in a red jacket hung with enough fringe to make Dale Evans jealous, danced and spun behind the mike with the joy of a 6-year-old deep in some Power Ranger fantasy as he belted out numbers off their new, aptly titled A Blazing Grace album: 200 Proof Lovin', One More Day of Weekend and a buzz-saw cover of Take Me Home, Country Roads that probably had John Denver twitching in his sleep. Guitarist Warner Hodges and bassist Jeff Johnson smoked cigarettes with more stage presence than Sixty Six mustered, but it wasn't just a matter of kinetics: a band needs to present a varied sound, no matter how cool their hillbilly Lucifer persona. The Scorchers showed how it was done, from the unexpected cover of the Byrds' Drugstore Truck Driving Man, the martial heartbreak of an unexpected Shop It Around, or the slow country fatalism of Still Tied. They absolutely stole Absolutely Sweet Marie from Bob Dylan and gave a glimpse of Hank Williams Sr. gone electric with their version of Lost Highway. It was the old stuff that the light (not more than 200) but enthusiastic crowd - heavy on leather and long hair - had come to hear. It wasn't until the encore readings of classics like Broken Whiskey Glass and Last Time Around that the audience became a sea of shaking shoulders and whipping heads. About the only thing missing was the all-time favorite White Lies, but when the lights came up for the third and final time the crowd - flushed and exulting - didn't seem to begrudge the lack. © 1995-2001 — The Dallas Morning News — All Rights Reserved

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