Clear Lake, Iowa
By Phillip Smith; April 25, 2015
There’s just not that many
places left that capture the history and sanctity of Rock and Roll as much as
the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake,
Iowa. That’s why watching the Boxmasters, play live in this chapel of
rock, made for an absolutely perfect night for soaking up the wonderful music
and the fantastic stories that go with them, as sung and told by front man Billy Bob “Bud” Thornton. The Boxmasters
are: Thornton, co-founder/guitarist J.D. Andrew, guitarist Brad Davis, and keyboardist extraordinaire
Teddy 'Zig Zag' Andreadis.
The band, all sporting
Liverpool Beatles suits, took the stage, kicking the evening off with a rocking
performance of “Emily” off Thornton’s
2003 Solo album, The Edge of the World.
I love that classic western sound Davis squeezes out of his guitar on “Providence”. Davis
grabs my full attention again in “Beautiful”.
He’s such a fantastic guitarist.
Thornton, in
a really down-to-earth and heartfelt moment, discussed how much of an honor it
was to be playing at the Surf. His honesty and sincerity was felt by
everyone. The band then tore through
nine consecutive songs off their latest release, Somewhere Down the Road. It
was so cool to hear the new tracks “Sometimes There’s a Reason”, “This Game is
Over”, and “Kathy Don’t Share”. Immediately
following a brief spoken-word introduction from Thornton explaining how religion is a good thing, unless it gets in
the hands of the wrong people, Andreadis
starts “Piece of the Sky” on his Hammond in a performance fit for Sunday morning
church.
After asking the audience about
their thoughts on political correctness and profanity, Thornton indeed got their blessing to play an explicit song or two. It was so fun to hear the rarely played tongue-in-cheek
song, “I’ll Give You a Ring” (when you give me back my balls), from their
self-titled album.
A request from the audience
for a song from the late great Warren
Zevon prompted Thornton to reminisce
about his good friend. He explained they
had met each other at the mail box, while living in the same apartment building. They ironically got to talking about a common
trait they both suffer from, obsessive compulsive disorder. The Boxmasters
then broke into a Zevon-esque
written song, “I Shot Him Down”. “Island
Avenue”, a song off the album, The Edge
of the World, and written by Thornton’s
brother Jimmy was a jam-filled treat. After an intense and funky keyboard solo from
Andreadis on the Hammond, the band played
tight as hell. This was rock and roll at
its finest. “Hope and Glory”, the last
song of the set was dedicated to everyone who was in the military or had lost
someone in war. From Thornton’s vocals to Davis’s killer guitar, the band in
general just gels so nicely.
For an encore, the Boxmasters returned to stage in a
slightly different configuration, featuring Andreadis this time, on harmonica, and Thornton sporting a tambourine. With a beat similar to the Ramone’s “Blitzkrieg Bop”, they kick in
“Love is Real Tonight”, followed by a rendition of “That Mountain” which was so
good, it sent chills up my spine. In a cutting heads fashion Andreadis and Davis went toe to toe, harp vs. guitar. It was such an amazing performance to end this stellar show with.
For almost two solid hours, I
hung on every note played and every word sung. This show will certainly go down
in my history book as one of my favorite concerts.
Setlist
Emily
Japanese Girl
She Looks Like Betty Page
Middle of the Night
Providence
Beautiful
Sometimes There’s a Reason
You’ll Be Lonely Tonight
This Game is Over
Dead Inside
A Piece of the Sky
Kathy Won’t Share
What Did You Do Today
Away Away
Desperation Parade
I’ll Give You a Ring
I Shot Him down
Island Ave.
Hope for Glory
Encore
Love is Real Tonight
That Mountain
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