Concert Review: April 1995

Love Battery

Love Battery returned to the Bar & Grill on Thursday, March 9 with their personal brand of ’90s style psychedelic love rock. With new material from the Straight Freak Ticket release, a fill-in

drummer and their dream lyrics, they used Salt Lake with a few other locations, to gear up for the big SXSW show in Texas. And if you weren’t there you happened to miss not only a fun evening, but some really great live music.

These guys bring with them a really laid back, no-attitude, relaxed vibe with them. It is nice to be able to go to a show, dance a little, laugh, hear some great live music and have an all around good time. Not only did Love Battery showcase some of their new material, but they also delved into their earlier full-length recordings of Dayglo and Far Gone to demonstrate they can lay it down live with no problem. These guys sound good on CD, but to really understand Love Battery and their approach to melodic, psychedelic, pop-noise, you’ve got to witness them live. It is a different animal we’re messing with here, folks and you will walk away impressed!

Kevin Whitworth (lead guitar) and Ron Nice (vocalist and rhythm guitar) were hitting it right on from the very first chords. Bruce Fairweather plays bass and has become more confident and comfortable with it since the last time I saw them. Now, not only does he play guitar great, but he has a good time doing it. (In the beginning, he did a Pete Townsen–style rock ‘n’ roll jump into the air, laughing as he landed and struck his first notes. This is quite the feat if you know the stage-to-ceiling space ratio at Bar & Grill.) Greg Gilmore did a great job filling in on the drums on just a moment’s notice. You couldn’t tell he has never recorded with Love Battery. In case you are wondering, yes, it is the same Gilmore that was a full-fledge member of Mother Love Bone, just like his pal Mr. Fairweather.

Locals Elbow Fin opened up this evening. Is it just me, or did these guys pull out the best looking hippy chicks along the Wasatch Front? These guys were on stage jammin’ with these sexy, beautiful women writhing right in front. I like how these guys sound, but I love their audience. You can bet I’ll be at all of their shows in the future. Alcohol Funnycar gave a strong solid performance for their first time in Salt Lake. Check these guys out, they are on the C/ label. To those of you who missed this wonderful evening, fear not. Love Battery will be back later this year on their normally scheduled tour. –Royce

Big Leg
White Rabbit
Austin, TX-March 17
Austin Chronicle

Coming from a state where the only national musical breakthrough has been Donny and Marie Osmond, and where musical freedom is whatever the Mormon church deems “appropriate listening,” Utah’s Big Leg has plowed its way through the snow of empty-mindedness and religious censorship to the warm, open-armed stage of Austin’s White Rabbit for their chance at kissin’ a little record company ass during their SXSW showcase. Bringing a mountain’s worth of Western/Urban Blues with her as evidence that a progressive underground music scene does in fact exist in the Beehive state, lead singer/guitarist Megan Peters delivered the goods with her Janis Joplin/Melissa Etheridge vocal intensity and acoustic-style meanderings. Launching into “original” songs (I say original with respect since playing cover tunes is the only way to get a gig in Salt Lake City), the band wasted no time buttering up the crowd with the smooth bluesy grooves of “Smile So Big,” and the anti-commitment anthem “Lock Me Up,” which juiced up the record company reps’ lips so much that they ended up kissin’ Big Leg’s talented ass instead. –Chris Marsh

Awesome, Winsom, Hein-some—
Not.
Hole-Salt Air

Hole’s live show at Salt Air on March 20 made three corporate women remember vividly what opportunities they passed up to become what they are: mainstream. I know, I am one of those women. My two friends and I attended the show for the right reasons. We were not wearing Kurt Cobain T-shirts to flash in Courtney Love‘s face, nor were we there to hear about Nirvana, Brad Pitt or know about Frances Bean. We were just there to experience Hole. Love reminded us that what she has exists in us. She gave us a glimpse of what we could have been and could still be—not a punk rock chick, necessarily, but to achieve the attitude.

From the moment the band walked on stage carrying their own instruments, we knew we were in for a night of unpretentious, unadulterated, pure fun. And Hole did not let us down.

Love is totally adept at what she does. She is a trashy, potty-mouthed, unapologetic tramp. If she believed in credos, hers would be “Don’t fuck with me.” She is not afraid to enforce her opinions. She rocks—hard—and her audience loves it. We loved it, and so did my friend’s 12-year-old son and his classmate, who studies Love through binoculars from the second floor balcony throughout the whole show. Those boys are ruined for life. No other women will ever meet the challenge. They have been Loved.

Not surprisingly, most of what the band played was from the Live Through This album. They played some new songs and at least a couple of covers.

Love showed up on stage in her classic baby doll dress and Mary Jane shoes, this time all in pink thigh-high stockings, but she added a nice touch: black bra and panties. She could easily be perceived as a boy toy bimbo, but her lyrics and attitude let you know that this is a game of which she is very much in control.

Salt Lake City was Hole’s final stop on this tour. They pulled out all the stops on stage. Love is obnoxious, a smart ass, and she bantered with the audience and with her band all night. She became angry at some guys in the pit who were wearing Kurt Cobain t-shirts. “I’m sick of you guys. Get out of my face!” This interaction led to the now infamous performance of on-stage genitalia. Wow. After the exhibitionist audience member landed back in the pit, Love said to the audience, “You know what he whispered in my ear? He told me he has some pot in the van. I wonder if he has 8-tracks, too.” She made comments about being compared to Madonna, Meg Ryan, and she told whoever was smoking weed in the audience to stop—“It hurts my ears.” She threw Benson and Hedges cigarettes into the pit, saying, “Smoking is a very dangerous habit. Don’t try it at home.” She performed most songs during the night with a cigarette burning between her two fingers.

The band wasn’t terribly tight, but they were fun. The rapport between the band members added to the overall excitement.

The audience members who were there for the right reasons couldn’t get enough of the band. Those who were there to check out Kurt Cobains widow missed out. After the encore performance, Love stood alone on-stage looking smug and precocious like Bette Davis as Baby Jane. “Good night,” she said, smirking. It’s a lasting image. What a brat. 

Local show

I waited four long years to see the band Forbidden again. After parting with Combat Records, the band seemed to drop off the face of the earth. I finally got the chance to see a show produced by 6 Feet Under Productions featuring the band. The tentative schedule included performances by Wicked Innocence, Forbidden and Malevolent Creation.

I spent more time looking for the venue than I cared to in one evening. My latest bottle of Snapple urged me to find the place in a hurry so I could use the facilities. The first address took me to a seedy band practice warehouse located in the area of 4200 South and 300 West. To make a long story short, the show was moved to the West side of 3500 South. It appeared to be a garage converted into a band’s practice area. Hardly a place I would expect to see the likes of Forbidden or Malevolent, but sometimes you need to take what you can get.

I entered the establishment and found out Forbidden wouldn’t be playing. Damn. Later I had a chance to talk with Matt Camacho, bass player for Forbidden. It turned out the grueling 68-shows-in-60-days tour the band was on had taken its toll on the health of the band’s singer Russ Anderson. I was informed by Camacho that Forbidden had been lurking in the shadows for the past four years, recording demos and touring Europe. They were recently picked up by Massacre Records. The release of their new CD Distorted is expected to hit the stores on April 24. I find this news notable as Forbidden seems to be one of the last really good thrash bands still around. I can guarantee their new release will be a keeper before ever hearing it.

The rest of the show seemed to be enjoyed by the other hundred or so people crammed into the place. It started off with the band (I hope I’m getting the name right) Carnal Disseminate. After, what I’m pretty sure was a duel performance of Carnal’s five-song set and a twenty minute intermission between sets, Malevolent Creation played. Malevolent’s style of grindcore was welcomed by all in the pit. Bodies flailed, hair flew, and beer spilled.

When it comes right down to it, underground music is supported by the scene, and the scene is only as good as the people that attended on Tuesday night. A lot of people went to this show and had fun. That’s all that really matters. –John Forgach 

Check out more from the SLUG Archives:
Band Interview: Smile
Band Interview: The Cult