Jay About... Eagles of Death Metal

I am an unabashed fan of sleazy, funky, heavy rock. The Stones are best when they slink into the mud. I easily can get behind the Sunset Strip scene from the late eighties when Cinderella danced on the edge between honky tonk and metal. Guns n Roses often nails it. So do Queens of the Stone Age. Out of that family tree comes Eagles of Death Metal... and they also very often nail it. When I saw they were coming to Burlington after the tragedy in Paris I scooped up tickets immediately. Finally it was show time last and I dragged my buddy JG over to Higher Ground to check it out, I have never seen them live.

So to be fair the place was only partially full for the opener Thelma and the Sleaze and it was like 80% dudes. Not sure what that says but my wife said it did not surprise her. Anywho, Thelma and the Sleaze rocked out pretty damn hard. The lead singer/guitarist wore a gold skin tight one piece and worked the crowd well. Musically they ripped w/ a sound that was like a coked up Janis Joplin fronting Kyuss. They were cool, I got myself a signed CD post show. The crowd was a little indifferent which was too bad. Made me nervous for the main event, seemed like maybe a bunch of gawkers just checking out the aftermath of a horrific event.

Not the case however! When EODM came onstage the place filled up and the energy level also turned up big time. If the previous bandleader worked the room, Jesse "Boots Electric" Hughes absolutely owned the f*ing place. Was he tuned up on blow, meth, just nicely baked? Don't care. That guy prowled and preened, and strutted all over the stage in a manic energy... pouring sweat and sex and just ripping it on the mike and the guitar. I was bummed that Josh Homme is not touring w/ them but the drummer Jorma Vik was hammering the drums and pretty competent all around. The rest of the band rocked and the place was LOUD. It was assaulting your brain loud. They played a mix of new stuff, hits, and a few fun covers. Nice solid set. They then had a huge encore w/ a dueling guitar (and bass, and drum) solo, more full band hits and of course a ripping "I Want You So Hard" that was a nice finishing move. 100th show on the tour and first back in the States... these guys really brought it.  Emotional, heavy, fun... 2 thumbs up.