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August 01, 2006
Electric Six Concert Review and Photos by Famed Rock Photog Julz Finley
Live at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Every summer (at least since I’ve been living in Cleveland) the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame puts on a free concert series called “Summer in the City” and usually every 2 to 3 weeks in the summer on a Wednesday night, they showcase a few bands to the public, rain or shine (outdoors if clear, indoors if raining… so the show always goes on). This year much to my surprise, the Electric Six from Detroit were one of the freebie shows booked. I’ve wanted to see this band for a while now, but every time they come to town, something in my personal life seems to prohibit that from happening. Luckily this time, I prevailed, and was able to catch a really great show.
They had 2 opening acts (the first I missed entirely since the show started at 6pm, and I didn’t get out of work until almost 6) and the second act I got there as they started, and it was another Detroit band known as the Dirty Americans. They weren’t too bad, pretty straight-forward rock and rollers, energetic, and pulled out some classic covers in their set mixed in with their own discography. They were good, but I’ll admit I was a bit distracted when they were on… there were these Roller Derby girls doing donuts around the stage area known as the Burning River Roller Girls, a new Cleveland chapter of Roller Derby chicks that has started up recently. I don’t know much about them, other than MySpace and the local arts papers have been a good launching ground and publicity maker for them. They looked like Suicide Girls on wheels, basically. Between them, the screaming kids who came there with their parents looking for a hand-out, and the free samples of slushy drinks from the Starbucks promo van… I can’t say that I had enough of an attention span for the Dirty Americans.
However, I came to see the Electric Six… and needless to say, they were excellent. They are great musicians, and know how to have fun. Dick Valentine is a good showman, and his comments about Bush and Lance Bass between numbers were delightful (he dedicated “Gay Bar” to Lance Bass… hahahah!) They played a few songs from their upcoming album called ‘Switzerland’ that should be available in the fall. I am really out of touch, because I thought “Señor Smoke” was still new, and maybe it isn’t that old, and the band is progressing quickly. They played some of the good shit from “Fire”; I was quite jazzed to hear “Naked Pictures of Your Mother”. They did “Danger High Voltage” pretty early on in the set as well. All in all, it was a lot of fun, and I am glad I went. The only thing that was a bit stifling in the photography was the extremely overcast early evening sunset… but the weather was good, and there was a nice breeze off of the lake. I do know that the Electric Six has many more live dates up ahead in the fall … so get up off your ass and go!
Tour Dates: Sept 14 Toronto, ON Sept 15 Buffalo, NY Sept 16 New York, NY Sept 17 Northampton, MA Sept 18 Hoboken, NJ Sept 19 Cambridge, MA Sept 22 Baltimore, MD Sept 23 Washington, DC Sept 25 Carrboro, NC Sept 26 Atlanta, GA Sept 27 St. Pete, FL Sept 28 Miami, FL Sept 29 Orlando, FL Sept 30 Tallahassee, FL Oct 2 Nashville, TN Oct 3 Birmingham, AL Oct 4 New Orleans, LA Oct 5 Houston, TX Oct 6 Denton, TX Oct 7 Austin, TX Oct 9 Tuscon, AZ Oct 11 San Diego, CA Oct 12 Santa Ana, CA Oct 13 Los Angeles, CA Oct 14 San Francisco, CA Oct 16 Portland, OR Oct 17 Vancouver, BC Oct 18 Seattle, WA Oct 20 Denver, CO Oct 21 Denver, CO Oct 23 Omaha, NE Oct 24 Columbia, MO Oct 25 Kansas City, MO Oct 26 Madison, WI Oct 27 Minneapolis, MN Oct 28 Milwaukee, WI Oct 29 Louisville, KY Oct 31 Chicago, IL Nov 1 Newport, KY Nov 2 Columbus, OH Nov 3 Cleveland, OH Nov 4 Detroit, MI Sponsored Links: |
