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Few bands excite me when I hear they are playing a show at some random bar. Usually the sound is shitty, the crowd is loud and fucking totally disrespectful, and the band’s not really into the performance because of it.

When a friend of mine told me that The Ghost Kings were going to be playing another show in Downtown L.A. at this new revamped bar Bordello (former name Little Perdo’s) on First street, I flipped out. When I randomly saw this band play at the Lava Lounge a few months back, I was completely blown away with their strong stage presence and fun antics. It made it a real show worth seeing.

I got there just as they were setting up, which was great because from what I heard, the other bands weren’t much to get excited over. Except for the first band Melo (M), a three piece cello cover band whom I heard were awesome. Bordello’s stage is pretty small, about 12 feet long and 8 feet deep, and this time they had a good 8 members up on stage. They were equipped with four guitars, lapsteel, banjo, bass, tambos, drums and an extra snare, which made for a fun feel.

Without even an introduction to who they were, they crept into this amazing slow quiet bluesy country melody which, just from the first few notes, got the entire bar quiet and watching. After the first song ended and the whole band did a musical chair act with their instruments and switched around on the cramped stage. They proceeded to do this after each song, bumping into each other and hitting mic stands along the way. The second song was sung by a different member and came out with this amazing little sad seething, and broken hearted song, which was short but very bitter-sweet. Without a drop of a note and barely a switch, a new member came to the mic and started his song right where the last note left off. I believe this member’s name was “Cavechild”, previously was “Icey” and before that opening was “Bonesman”. First three opening songs, three different members of the band. To me, it had such an awesome cool calm feel to it. It felt like you were just watching the band at a rehearsal banging out these tunes that every member put their soul into. I know, cheesy sounding, but true if you see them play live!

After that third song the whole bar hooted and applauded. It was a full acknowledgment of how impressive the opening songs were. They quickly introduced themselves as The Ghost Kings and pushed right into the next country ballad. The energy on stage was amazing for the style of music. Everyone was jumping around and banging on random tambos and snares, and throwing their guitars and bodies around the tight, small stage. In between songs, they would pick on each other about whose in tune and whose supposed to start the song when. It gave you this feeling like you were just hanging out with your friends and they are just playing some songs for you at your birthday party.

The last song started with this HUGE loud jam intro where it seemed more like a prog-punk band then this little indie country-blues band. The song got louder and faster and more chaotic then just stopped and moved right into this sweet little country ditty. The guitarist (Cavechild) played so fast with such ferocity, he looked more like a young, red-headed Joe Strummer than a Hank Williams. The bassist at the time (Sleepy Train) went nuts and played his bass behind his head and molested the air with his tongue. The drums in the back were slammed on without any care that they were possibly being broken from the force. When the song ended, the bar went dead silent with complete astonished face patrons and exhilarated fans. The whole room stood up in applause, blown away from the phenomenal performance they displayed.

The show was truly amazing. If you can catch this band live, PLEASE make the effort to drag your ass out of the house and grab a drink at the next performance (June 15th at Tangier). It’s worth the drive and trouble parking, believe me. If not, your drink is on me… just call out my name.

Truely,
Loren

Photo by Adrienne VanSchoonhoven