The Jesus Lizard:Â Club
(MVD Visual)
The DVD box boasts that it was their “first American date in over ten years.†You could see that all the band members had definitely aged. One must have wondered if they still had the power, the energy, and the intensity that they were known for. Frontman David Yow picked up the mic, made a terrible joke, and then they ripped into the manic opening chords of “Puss.†Yow was crowd surfing within seconds. They still got it.
Over the course of the concert Yow molested a girl in the front row, made some more tasteless jokes, pulled his dick out, and insulted the entire audience. Now that they are legends of alternative rock they can get away with stuff like that. I’m very curious how audiences reacted at their early shows though. Seeing some crazy singer throw himself in their faces and singing things like “Do you think you’d like to have a blockbuster up your ass?†Here, in 2009, they were given the reception of returning champions and they deserved it. They were incredibly tight and the musicianship of the other three band members is unbelievable. Guitarist Duane Denison plays dissonant off-kilter guitar lines and tricky chords and tosses them off like he isn’t even trying. David Wm. Sims mauls his bass like a bear while Mac McNeilly plays tirelessly, never missing a beat. This is actually a great place for people to start who aren’t yet familiar with The Jesus Lizard and don’t know how innovative their blend of alt-rock, punk, noise, and I guess even a little industrial is. The setlist spans their whole career and features songs from all of their albums except Blue, which McNeilly didn’t play on. They tend to lean more toward earlier songs and even throw in covers like Chrome’s self-titled song and “Wheelchair Epidemic†by The Dicks. It’s hard to imagine The Jesus Lizard ever sounding better than they do here. For new fans and old fans alike, Club is a testament to the greatness of this band.
