Concrete Disciples Music Reviews - Reverend Horton Heat

Reverend Horton Heat
Nashville Pussy
Honky
July 10, 2002 @ the Ventura Theater

Words and photos by: Mark A. Whitaker

Promising to put the "SEX" back into Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll, Nashville Pussy roared into town accompanying the Reverend Horton Heat on their "Keep on Fuckin' tour." I almost didn't make the show I thought I had to work that night so I had only given the show slight consideration. I wanted to go, but since I thought I had to work I figured I would miss out. Then came a surprise, no work that night. Fuck yeah, I'm goin to the show. I was not sure what to expect I had heard of the Reverend Horton Heat before but I had never seen them play, the same goes for Nashville Pussy, I figured they would be some southern country band. Boy I was wrong about that one Nashville Pussy plays loud fast Rock n Roll, no emo power pop bull shit here. Just in your face, sexually suggestive and full of screaming guitar solos, hard rock.

When I walked past the merch table in the lobby, I saw several shirts emblazoned with the name "Honky." I thought it was pretty funny, especially when I saw one of the shirts that said "I'm with Honky." When I went down to the stage area I realized that the shirts were actually band shirts for the band Honky. They were rumored to have members of the Butthole surfers. They played well, but I wasn't really into them that much. They play standard rock that wasn't too exciting.

Taking the stage next was none other than Nashville Pussy, I didn't know what to expect really, my friend Tim told me to be ready because they play hard and fast. I got my camera ready and sure enough Nashville Pussy was blazin 0-60 in no time flat. A lot of older fans will remember the old bass player Corey Parks would spit out a blazing ball of fire. Things are a little different now; Nashville Pussy has a new bass player Katie Lynn Campbell, who while she doesn't spit huge balls of fire, still does an amazing job playing bass, this girl knows how to rock.

Katie Lynn played really well; rocking and head banging like there was no tomorrow. Blaine singer and second guitar man, has a good voice perfect for growlin those down and dirty rock n roll tunes they are known for. He can also play some mean licks on that guitar. Their drummer Mr. Jeremy Thompson was pounding out solid beats to keep everybody happy. Of course when doing a review of Nashville Pussy you should never forget the lovely and talented Ruyter Suys. In between screaming guitar solos, Ruyter would stroll right up to the edge of the stage and rock out for all the fans. Ruyter manages to play wild and sexually suggestive at the same time. She would go from headbanging metal fury to sexual temptress playing her guitar held high while she reclined on her knees. Towards the end of the show things got a little warm so Ruyter stripped out of her skin tight, curve hugging, leather pants and played dressed only in her bra and panties. All the guys in the front were whistling with delight. One lucky guy even had the pleasure of having Ruyter sit on his head during one song. As if that wasn't enough, Ruyter climbed to the top of the monitors and finished off the set up there.

After the excitement of Nashville Pussy, the Reverend Horton Heat took the stage, playing their own special brand of rock-a-billy swing music. The Reverend came on stage dressed in a flaming red suit, ready to rock the place to the ground. Playing since ninety-six the Rev knows how to keep the crowd going with lots of foot tapping, mosh pit, hard hitting good tunes. Jimbo is the raddest guy, he noticed I was shooting photos of him so he came up real close so I could get a close up shot of him slappin away on that big ol flame lacquered up right bass of his. Scott did an excellent job keeping the drums going and singing backing vocals. That's so awesome, I can't even play drums much less worry about keeping pace and singing lyrics to a song. He's got my respect. While the Reverend Horton Heat aren't as theatrical as Nashville Pussy they still put on a good show. The Rev at one point even decided to play his guitar while standing on Jimbo's bass while Jimbo played it sideways. After the second time he climbed up the Rev showed off his skateboarding skills with a nice Boneless off Jimbo's bass while still playing guitar. Since this was the first time I had seen the Reverend play I was surprised how well I liked them. I think it's their rock n roll influence that gets interested and then their swing beats kick in and hook you. After the show they stayed to talk with the fans for a bit, and even commented on how nice it was to come to Ventura. What a great night, full of surprises.