Sound on the Sound Presents: Act One of our Blue Moon 75th Anniversary Celebration

April 14, 2009

The Whore Moans ::: Photo by Josh

We’ve spared no words in praise of The Whore Moans, Thee Emergency, and the Hopscotch Boys on this blog, so it was a privilege to be sponsoring them all on one bill for the special occasion of the Blue Moon’s 75th Anniversary celebration. Suffice to say that all three bands lived up to their billing, while a fourth band who was new to us, High Class Wreckage, ended up playing to the strength of the rest; starting the night off with an impressive use of long hair and a well developed rock n’ roll stage presence.

The Hopscotch Boys returned after announcing last year they were disbanding altogether, and they reprised their role as a star Blue Moon regular from the past few years. The crazy thing about this band is how they never fail to produce two completely opposite reactions: abject horror or unstoppable grinning. Abbey captured the Hopscotch Boys experience best when she described it to one patron as “part art, part felony.” I would simply add ‘all rock’ to that description, and then note that seeing is believing. And as everyone who didn’t already know found out, “seeing” means you’ll also probably end up seeing Blowdog up close and personal whether you like it or not.

I was surprised Thee Emergency was willing to be billed after the admittedly show-stopping Hopscotch Boys, but let’s be honest, it’s not like they don’t have all the ingredients for a memorable set themselves. Dita Vox as a vivacious and sexy lead singer is second to none in this town (IMHO), and even among a crowd of theatrical guitarists rolling around onstage, she seems to maintain the crowds attention. No hint of a past injury on Tom T. Drummer is discernible; in fact I’d say he’s playing harder and faster than ever. Feverish plea’s for “Sweat Sex” went unheeded, and after an overactive mosh pit started the band abbreviated their set, finishing off with a stirring performance of long-time SOTS favorite, “Attack of the Cobrasaurus.”

The Whore Moans secretly headlined our birthday show in January, but it’s no secret that we think they are one of the best rock band’s around these parts. The band brought along a film crew to help them put together a video this time around, but I think they might have had a bit of dilemma with the rather active area right in the front of the stage. By this point in the evening the drunks were really having fun (and losing control) posing a significant obstacle to the rather scrawny A/V club; luckily nobody was really willing support a surfing expedition though, so they had to settle for just bouncing and pushing. The crowd was however happy to oblige the band’s wish to clap along for the song they were filming for, “Wall of a Song,” which requires a capella screaming over a sea of hand-claps to really work right. It seems like just last month they got back from a tour, but April 18 at the Healthy Times Fun Club they’re already kicking off another clockwise-roaming month-long nationwide tour that hit’s New York City.

This Saturday the fun at the Blue Moon continues with this here blog you’re reading presenting another night of rock by WE Wrote the Book on Connectors, A Gun That Shoots Knives and Portland favorites Junkface. I am beyond excited to hear what the WE Songwriting Service came up with for the Moon. That 75 years have passed without a proper theme song for the bar is a travesty.