Hell froze over this past weekend at the “Hell at the Hall” concert featuring the Xray Eyeballs, Davila 666, and the Black Lips. An unimaginable snowstorm wrecked as much havoc outside as the bands did inside. Regrettably though, delays in public transportation caused me to miss the first two bands that were said to have put on good performances. I got to Webster Hall just in time to see four police officers take the stage, but these were no regular policemen; they were indeed the Black Lips in Halloween disguise.
The Black Lips are notoriously rowdy; they’ve been chased out of venues before, and its been rumored that they’ve been chased out of countries (having done unique tours in Middle Eastern Countries). In an interview last week though, they admitted to have read their Wikipedia page recently and confessed that 90% of what was written is crap. Nevertheless, they are still known as a rowdy live act. Coming from Atlanta, they are a punkish lo-fi garage rock band whose sound has become more polished over time. They took a more professional approach to their recently released album, Arabia Mountain, by working with the grammy-winning producer Mark Ronson, who has produced a diversity of artists such as Amy Winehouse (Back to Black), Adele (19), and Nas (Untitled) among many others.
However, that does not mean that the Black Lips played a polished arena-rock-like sounding performance. They were raw, loud, and rugged, while yelling and jumping around stage—just as rock n’ roll should be. They played several new songs, some older songs, and some way older songs, including the first song they wrote, “Too Much Monkey Business,” which they closed with. They included staples of their past shows, such as “O’ Katrina,” “Hippie Hippie Hoorah,” and “Bad Kids,” which is probably their most known song and featured in the Movie (500) Days of Summer. They took the early song “Dirty Hands,” which is a slower acoustic song, and amplified it for a faster paced live performance. For the sake of Halloween, they also included a cover of the song “Jack the Ripper.”
Meanwhile, in the crowd, amidst the spooky noises and howling, many people were dressed up in their Halloween costumes, and were looking to get rowdy and jump around. There was some beer sprayed, empty cups thrown, rolls of toilet paper unraveled and sailing through the air; none of which is out of the ordinary for a Black Lips show. For several songs, fans up close were encouraged to get on stage and dance (or do as they please). People in costumes were constantly climbing up and jumping into the crowd to do some crowd surfing. Members of the band were not about to stop one girl that came on stage to give them mini make out sessions in the middle of a song.
After a highly energized night, and twenty songs by the Black Lips, it was time to say goodbye as the goblins and ghouls were released into the streets of New York City. The merchandise table included the band’s records on vinyl, and a limited edition t-shirt for the “Hell at the Hall” event.
The Black Lips are definitely a band worth seeing, especially if you are looking to let loose and jump around a bit. They are a prime cornerstone of the garage-rock genre, and stay true to their tunes. While their sound has become more polished, they have done so without transitioning their style to a slowed down arena-rock style like other bands have, even after six albums. -JKS
(an original photograph by Sara Stewart)
Key Black Lips track "Bad Kids":
Black Lips - Bad Kids by purpleplaid
