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| LUCK OF THE DRAW |
Ear-Pollution Show |
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| October 19th, 2007 16:20 |
Luck of the Draw
The Irish Brothers
October 6, 2007 @ the Red Cove, Ventura, California
Having been to nearly every local Luck of the Draw show for several years since I first met the band you would figure I would review them every single time, and help get the word out. Unfortunately I am a lazy bastard and it took someone to tell me to do something with the photos I shot of them, for me to actually sit down and write another review, that and Jeff was probably wondering why he kept me on as writer and photographer since I never send anything in, well here goes.
If you are wondering why you haven't seen the Red cove on ticket master or something like that, is because it’s not really a concert venue it's an awesome dive bar that sometimes has shows, usually on weekends giving the drunks something to listen to beside themselves.
So tonight's lineup was the Irish Brothers from Orange County, and Luck of the Draw who tonight were from Boise, Idaho, more on that later. I showed up around ten thirty but nobody had played yet, good deal. Another fact about the Red cove there are no official show times you just show up at around nine thirty or ten and hang out and see if the bands are playing if not grab a drink and hang out. The Irish Brothers were running a little late but setup in no time and got the show going with some solid rock jams. I have seen the band play before but I don’t remember any of the songs; it’s been a few years. The drummer David although I think he goes by the name "Serious Dave" really kicked up a storm on the drums pounding away giving the Irish Brothers a raucous beat that hardly slowed. Guitarist "hot Karl" stayed true to his name as he lit up the frets of his guitar, with amazing speed and dexterity, for a minute I just stood there and watched in awe as his fingers flew up and down the frets, making incredible note combinations it was great to watch his talent.
Bass player, Keith Irish and yes actually that is his real name, and they actually are brothers all with the last name, Irish, of course that would make sense since they are brothers. Oh yeah, Keith was awesome too, I am trying to learn to play the bass and watching him play, basically I am not worthy. Finger picking fast as hell, smile on his face the whole time, again I had to just stand there and watch, he even played overhand on one song not sure of the point but it was cool. Towards the end of their set the Irish Brothers did a song for the ladies, pretty much, if Karl was around at the same time Elvis was he would find himself in a heap of trouble for swinging his hips around, then turning around and shaking his butt like Shakira does, but she looks way hotter doing it, although the ladies I think were getting close to fainting. It was funny as hell and I couldn’t help laughing, all in all the Irish Brothers were well received.
After the Irish Brothers packed up, Luck of the Draw took the stage, basically describing their sound as Cow Trucker Punk; they hit you hard and fast like a shot of fresh moonshine. Nobody really knows where Luck of the Draw are really from, every time I see them they are from a different city and state, I don’t think I have ever heard them say they were from the same city twice. This time around they were from Boise, Idaho. I almost forgot, they also seem to have a new bass player every ten shows or so, I forget what the average is but the line up has been Todd “Bugs” on rhythm guitar and vocals, Eddie Von Eddie on lead guitar and backing vocals and Chris “tattoo” Blackavar on drums. Chris rocks the drums, he doesn’t bother with flair or fancy gimmicks just straight percussionary brutality and tonight I think he may have gotten some new drum sticks because he was pounding the shit out of his drums or maybe he just had room to really get into it either way he just kills it and on occasion kills Bugs after the show by diving off the drum riser and tackling him but it’s all in good fun.
In addition to being an awesome guitar player Eddie’s got the high jumps covered, it’s cool because he’ll jump randomly, although I am pretty sure it’s during “My little Pin up girl.” Joining them was their newest member, a native American going by the name of Dwayne “Hildu” or according to Bugs, “He’ll do for now” as well as being a great musician Bugs is also somewhat of a comedian, gotta love it, Hildu is their tenth bass player including a stint by Bugs on bass which worked out for a while, anyway that’s the band.
I can’t remember the order of the songs so I’ll just tell you the ones I remember. Luck of the Draw had some new songs and one that I remember was “Red Winged Devil” or She devil can’t remember, it was good fast and plenty raw. Part of the charm is hearing Bugs talk about the meaning behind the song or what it was about. One such song which is a “true story” if you believe Bugs is “My little Pin up girl,” which is about a truck stop hooker they met at Pierpont Beach in Ventura and how they all had a good time, but she ended up leaving, lured by the “Bright lights and big city life of Bakersfield” or was it a transvestite?
Anyway the song usually ends up poking fun at Eddie, who laughs, swears and blames it on Bugs. The songs are catchy and deal with a lot of different issues such as love on “my little pin up girl,” money… “My last dollar” and “dropping a load.” Also like Bugs is fond of saying “they’re all true stories.” Another favorite, and this one gets the crowd going as well as the tuff guys who have to knock each other and me around is “Drinking Gasoline” this song is seriously my favorite, I love that it’s fast paced and Bugs’ vocals are so raw, he just roars, plus ninety percent of the crowd knows the chorus so you get a good sing a long going.
Since Luck of the Draw has had so many bass players Bugs usually likes to give the bass player a hard time and Hildu was no exception, he somehow kept tripping on the mic cords and in would cut often accidentally cut Eddie off mid song. Also I think Hildu has a more punk influenced bass style which is cool, so he would get into it and dip his bass up or crouch down. Either way, Bugs caught on that he was trying to show some style and every time Hildu dipped his bass up, Bugs copied him once, swinging his guitar up three times in a row just to throw off Hildu's timing. It was so funny, everybody was laughing even Hildu, he smiled and took it all in stride despite almost being fired like five or six times. Seriously I love Luck of the Draw’s music but more than often it’s the comedy that brings me back, time after time. So next time you're at your favorite dive bar you might just catch that little old Cow trucker punk band from Tulsa, Oklahoma, Butte Montana or wait, was it Boise, Idaho…Luck of the Draw.
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