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Ironic
Inflections and Speaking in Tongues
There is an oft-misquoted saying (and here it goes again) that upon
first release, only 500 people bought the first Velvet Underground
album, but each one started a band. Thank the lord that the same cannot
be said of the film This is Spinal Tap - or we'd have a world
crawling with Mock-Rock like Upper Crust and Tenacious D. And frankly
- that's a world I could not bear. On the other hand, I'm quite happy
to live in this one.
Upper Crust is Enuff-Z-Nuff meets Barry Lyndon. (Too obscure? Ok -
try Poison and Dangerous Liasons). 1785 outfits and affectations
combined with 1985 cock-rock is a strange mix indeed, and one that
fails just as grandly as it succeeds. Where banks like Poison celebrated
the decadent lifestyle of the (then) present, Upper Crust dandies
about in the past - wigs, silken short-coats and knickers, ruffles.
. . oh, wait. Sounds just like Poison, doesn't it? This time, the
wigs are powdered and the songs are about pistol duels, proper manners
and servants - delivered with a DeSade- like snottiness. Upper Crust
rocked with a capital "R" - the music is strong enough to
surpass the one-joke pitfall, but only to fall back on 80's Metal
nostalgia, which isn't much of a net, really. Inspired by, but better
than your more recent AC/DC albums, if you're into that sort of thing.
Opening for Tenacious D, they suitably got the joint jumping, and
I still have "Finished with Finishing School" stuck in my
head 36 hours later. I suppose that counts for something. In short
- Upper Crust were Totally Awesome, Guv'ner.
Tenacious D, on the other hand, are Rock-N- Roll swindlers of a different
breed. Comprised of 2 acoustic guitars, doughboy physiques, and a
dream of world domination, "the D" are known primarly for
exactly 4 short films aired on HBO that have been circulating on video
through college dorms for the last 4 years. Tenacious D are the Smothers
Brothers weaned on 70's Art Rock and Metal, Crosby, and Stills &
Nash; armed with delusions of grandeur and a seriously retarded sexuality.
Tenacious D make music about themselves. About how they rock, how
they are better than all of us, and about Ronnie James Dio. They are
very very good at what they do. Kyle Gass is a great guitarist who
sounds like he could play just about any rock tune if he put his mind
to it. (When proving his classical training, he picked off a riff
from Jethro Tull's Bach adaption "Bouree'".) Jack Black,
an actor best known as "the pudgy, obnoxious guy" from High
Fidelity, has a yelp that can be bent, folded, spindled and mutilated
into a wide vocabulary of mocking harmonies. One of "TD's"
secret weapons is Black's incredible talent for vocalizing guitar
and keyboard solos: the final song of the evening was the final
15 minute song cycle of Abbey Road - with just 2 acoustic guitars
and Jack's inventive scatting. They even included the 3 guitar solos
that precede "The End". Mighty damn impressive.
  
So - on the event of their 21st club gig in their history (as Black
informed the crowd) - did the TD's TV comedy hold up? More or
less. Since many of their songs are structured around skit comedy,
there was some retro-fitting to do. For instance, one song depends
on the audience understanding that Kyle quit the band - so they orchestrated
a argument, break-up and make-up in the span of 60 seconds. And so
forth. As well, one of the funniest parts of the HBO shorts
is that "the D" think they "kick ass", but the
crowd is hardly interested in being rocked. The crowd at Avalon was
begging to be rocked, and JB and KG delivered. It was at once unsettling
and encouraging to feel the Hootnanny vibe of the crowd: EVERYONE
knew the lyrics. It was one big Tenacious D clap-and-sing-along, and
for some that either made or broke the show; the people to which
this kind of music/comedy appeals tend to enjoy being only ones
blessed with fandom. But, the facts are, they played every song in
their back-catalog, a few choice covers, plus a few new or live-boot-only
songs. They were funny, tight and happy to be there. And you couldn't
go 5 minutes without hearing the word "motherfucker",
or having the whole crowd scream it. Which is exactly what a fan should
expect of a night of Tenacious D. (note - "Lee" was
there, as their roadie, to sing his song, and in a performance as
Spiderman during the cartoon theme cover. It rocked.) The joke translated
well enough live, but the real test will be when they release their
first studio album in September. Until then, long live Tenacious
D. - Ian, July 30
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