Boom Chick The Rogue Bar Thursday, July 26, 2012
See also: Q&A: Frank Hoier And Moselle Spiller Of Boom Chick On Touring, Honoring The Blues, And Nirvana
About a week and a half ago, my dad opened a show at the Rogue Bar. When he, my mother, and I arrived at the venue he said, "It's pretty bad when you can't even fill the Rogue parking lot," which holds about 10 cars total.
Boom Chick can wail. They wail in a way that makes me feel like Wayne Campbell watching Crucial Taunt for the first time. Scha-wiiiing! The Brooklyn-based duo is reminiscent of Brothers-era Black Keys with a White Stripes-esque setup. They're sexy and they don't complicate their dirty, gritty, bluesy rock 'n' roll. Like good whiskey, it's served straight up and sets a fire in all the right places.
So why in the hell were there fewer than 20 people inside the Rogue to see them Thursday night? I don't think I'll ever know.
Singer and guitarist Frank Hoier said it was their second time playing the Rogue, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was their last time at any local venue with a turnout like that. It's embarrassing to be in a city that can't support local or touring bands. I doubt the cover charge accrued covered their gas money to get there -- but maybe Tucson can give them a decent payout tonight.
While most Phoenicians were at home sitting in their A/C watching reality TV, the few, the sane, the proud members of the population were getting sweaty and shaking their booties to drummer Moselle Spiller's spastic high-energy hits. Her devilish glances and dramatic, flowing arm movements cast a witchy woman spell on any onlookers. Her playful use of maracas as drumsticks is endearing. Her chemistry with Hoier is entrancing and, frankly, a little titillating.
A Bo Diddley cover and an original song based on the instructions off a can of WD-40 are just two of the many shimmy-inducing songs Boom Chick played Thursday night, and, since I wish you could have been there to see it, I recorded those two songs. Please excuse my cell phone recordings. Maybe, if you're lucky, they'll come back when they're packing low-quality and high-occupancy venues and you can really see just what you missed.
Critic's Notebook Last Night: Boom Chick at The Rogue Bar The Crowd: Literally fewer than 20 people, excluding band members and the bartender and including the curmudgeon-y meth head who got kicked out for being rowdy after the first set. Overheard at the Show: A rousing series of ghost stories from the bartender about experiences he and his co-workers have had late nights alone, of course, closing shop. Random Notebook Dump: If you don't believe me, stay tuned for the following highly sarcastic statements made by singer-guitarist of Bad Lucy during their set: "It's the lulls that really count." "Please hold your applause until the end of the set." "We're Bad Lucy and we're happy to be here tonight."
