It's funny, I'm a bit of a guitar snob (love Dr. Know, Page Hamilton, Vernon Reid, Tom Morello, guys who are good at the stacatto thing and very expressive in their playing) so I don't usually get up for the two chord ole skool punk thing anymore...but I honestly didn't think Murphy's Law were that bad. They weren't organized, on time, or all that original, but they had a sense of humor and engaged the crowd.
I thought Red Tape had a lot of potential, if they'd slow the fuck down, practice a bit, and stick to the riffy type stuff and stay away from 195bpm strumming.
Bad Brains were great, despite HR's understated lazy vocals and poor sound engineering. The 45 mins late was bullshit, but par for the course with BB from what I understand. Dr. K and Darryl Jennifer were outstanding in tandem...they really are unique talents, and I'm glad to say that I finally got to see them.
HR is one strange fellow, he really is what I expected him to be. During the second song, the mic stand fell to the ground...and you could feel the collective gasp in the crowd, as in "oh shit what's he going to do now? hope he doesn't start swinging"...but the tech adeptly swept it away. I loved his towel wrapped around his waist, the puma sweat suit with the pants tucked into the socks, and the slippers or moccasins. He had enough clothes on to stay warm in the Arctic.
While HR is probably well off his game compared to the Quickness era of the late 80s, the BB are still an amazing live show. There's a real energy and passion there, and had HR ever had his shit together...perhaps they really could have been something. Well...they really are something, and to deny their influence is foolish...but you wonder what could have been when you see them.
