Music
B.R.M.C.: Menacing Rock to Match the Night Saturday, September 20, 2003; Page C05
Do you have to be an idiot to venture out in the middle of a hurricane just to see a rock band? No, but it helps. It also helps to be a fatalist.
Or a storm scoffer. Or perhaps just a devoted fan. The crowd of 250 or so that braved flying road signs and dodged urban driftwood to see Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the 9:30 club Thursday night was probably a mix of those types.
Bassist and singer Robert Turner expressed R-rated surprise at the healthy turnout. "I don't know what the [expletive] you're doing here," he said. "Don't you know you're supposed to be home?" The nasty weather wasn't about to keep the bushy-haired, black-clad California trio from making a menacing racket with their songs, however. Cast in an eerie red light on a dark stage, the band thundered through songs from its debut album, "B.R.M.C.," and its recent release, "Take Them On, on Your Own."
Trafficking in dark and brooding rockers that seem to well up from a pit of angst and aggravation, cynicism and doubt, nihilism and even true love, B.R.M.C. relentlessly pounded songs home. Fabulously efficient drummer Nick Jago made maximum impact with minimum showboating, while guitarist and singer Peter Hayes scattered six-string shards of brilliance on "Spread Your Love," "Love Burns" and the politically charged "US Government," formerly titled "Kill the US Government." On "Whatever Happened to My Rock 'N' Roll?," the band matched the day's weather with a fury all its own.
Before kicking off an extended, increasingly ear-splitting, feedback-fueled encore, Turner thanked fans again for risking life and limb for 90 minutes of rock. "I hope your town's still there when you leave," he said. For the most part, it was. And the idiots, fatalists, scoffers and fans made their way safely home.
-- Joe Heim
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37630-2003Sep19.html
