Electric Six!!!!!

As promised, here are my thoughts and observations regarding the Electric Six concert at the Khyber in Philly a few nights ago.

• First and foremost, I want to thank Smokin’ for agreeing to go with me to the concert. We had sort of a man-date (not that there’s anything wrong with that). It was good to hang out with Smokin’ again, as we sometimes get too busy to see our friends.

• Smokin’ introduced me to Indian food – we stopped by this little place on 2nd and Chestnut, and I gotta tell ya, I enjoyed the experience, and look forward to partaking in more sometime in the near future. The Naan was good, as was the Chicken Taton (I’m sure I butchered that one).

• I have never seen a rock concert in a sauna … until last night. The Khyber is a cozy place to see a band play, but man, does somebody need to install/fix the air conditioning! The smell of 100’s of people’s sweat can take away from a show.

• The first band we saw was a local group called The Distance. I’m guessing they are relatively new to the scene, as their stage presence was a little lacking. They did have a nice pop/punk sound, and seemed like generally good guys.

• The second group was called Priestess, and they seemed to be polar opposites of the first band. If the lead singer had bitten a bat’s head off on stage, I wouldn’t have been surprised. That being said, the group, from Montreal (don’t hold it against them), had some major talent. They had two great guitar players who were able to weave in and out of lead and rhythm guitar seamlessly, and the drummer was an absolute madman. I would say that they reminded me of a mix between Gwar and Dio (if that is possible). A side note, my ears are still ringing from them. I should’ve known they were going to be loud when they started setting up the columns of amps.

• Electric Six was incredibly entertaining. I really hope these guys make it. They definitely have the sound. The lead singer is not your normal lead singer, in that he doesn’t dress the part. He had short hair, and a buttoned shirt on. Additionally, he clowned around the stage the entire night, which was very entertaining (I love it when a band member, especially a lead singer, isn’t full of himself). The guy was quick-witted, especially during one song when the drummer’s base pedal broke. Almost immediately, the lead singer asked if either Priestess or The Distance had packed their gear up. Then, he went on to ask if Hall and Oates were around (originally from Philly). THEN, he asked if Allen Iverson was in the building, and if so, if he had a base-pedal with him. Then, he started imitating Iverson, saying something along the lines of “We’re talkin’ about base-pedal, here!” I had heard he was a little on the weird side months ago, and he definitely fit the bill, in a good way. He later was talking about his drummer, who was a local guy from King of Prussia, and proclaimed to the audience “My drummer is a strip mall!” Funny stuff.

• I had no idea that Pabst actually sold beer in bottles.

• On the drive home, I realized it was 12:45 a.m. At this point, I said to Smokin’, “I can’t wait to get up for work later this morning.” Believe me, I was cursing fire when the alarm went off at 6:30 a.m.

• All in all, a great show, and when they come back, I hope they can go to a bigger venue, like maybe the TLA or the Troc, or maybe the Wachovia Center (if they get big enough).