2 Butthole Surfers @ Showbox at the Market

Oct. 13th, 2009 - Butthole Surfers, Psychic Ills @ Showbox at the Market

Last Tuesday, legendary experimental punk rockers, the Butthole Surfers, made a stop in Seattle. They played a killer hour and a half set at Showbox at the Market consisting of greatest hits and fan favorites from most of their classic pre-Electriclarryland records. No “Pepper” played at this show, which was fine with me. This BHS show was a treat because their current reunion tour features the “classic” lineup of King Coffey, Jeff Pinkus, Teresa Nervosa, Paul Leary, and Gibby Haynes. Prior to 2008, this lineup had not played together since 1989 and the Surfers’ last show in Seattle was at the EMP in 2001. Noticeably missing on Tuesday was fifth member and second drummer Teresa Nervosa. According to all reports, she had issues with border patrol getting into Canada for the Vancouver show and headed back to Texas instead of making the trip to Seattle.

The Surfers instead took the stage as a foursome and started the night with a bang playing “Something” from 1991’s Piouhgd, featuring Paul Leary’s screaming vocals and Gibby Haynes on saxophone. After that, it was all Haynes on the mic, allowing Leary to play to the crowd with his quirky facial expressions and fuzzed out punk guitar work. This was my first BHS show and I was surprised by all the songs I was familiar with. I have always been a fan of 1987’s “Locust Abortion Technician”, which to my delight they covered with “Pittsburgh to Lebanon”, “Graveyard”, and the sample heavy “22 Going on 23”. The packed bridge and tunnel 21+ crowd was primed and ready for this one as there were many noticeably drunk and obnoxious people in attendance. There was a raucous pit with plenty of crowd surfing, and the stench of marijuana was constant, especially during the “Bong Song” from their 1989 EP Widowmaker. The security was trying to keep up with crowd management and pot management but they failed miserably, as the party people well outnumbered the Showbox security staff.

They had a pretty sweet stage setup, with three giant video screens simultaneously playing non-stop, looped images of horror movie violence, and sexual imagery. The band was all business though, taking very few moments to interact with the audience, beyond the greeting to start the show. Gibby spent most of his time hiding behind his sampler-- tweaking knobs, messing with odd vocal effects, and once and awhile picking up a guitar. Paul Leary, on the other hand, was a ball of energy and looked to be having quite a bit of fun. The rhythm section of Pinkus and Coffey laid a solid foundation, but were definitely over shadowed by the band’s founders. Haynes did speak up at one point, ranting about how he appreciated the crowd’s lack of camera use and how he hated cameras. Unfortunately for me, I was in the middle of taking a picture of Hayne’s ugly mug when he said it-- but for the record there were a ton of cameras and phones hovering above the audience.

The band, whose members are now in their fifties, looked all grown up and a little bit haggard. From what I’ve read and watched, they have definitely tamed their image and onstage antics from a time when they were known for setting stages on fire. It’s also probably safe to say that they have backed off the recreational psychedelics at this point in their careers as well, though Gibby certainly sported a “what planet am I on?” facial expression a few times from my vantage point. The show, overall, was a pretty awesome spectacle, especially when they launched into an amazing version of “Who Was in My Room”, from arguably their best record “Independent Worm Saloon”. That song kicks so much ass and probably ignited the biggest crowd reaction of the night. The Surfers went out on a true high note and ended the show by unleashing a huge plume of fog that engulfed the stage, while simultaneously treating their fans to the acid freak-out to end all freak-outs. It was an epic ending and a sure highlight of my 2009 concert escapades.

In the opening slot was Brooklyn’s Psychic Ills, who might possibly be my greatest discovery of 2009. The foursome created some killer experimental heavy psych drones that put me into a trancelike state. Check out my slideshow and videos of both the Surfers and Psychic Ills. The set list below is actually from the next night in Portland, but I believe it to be extremely close to the Seattle set list. \m/

Setlist:

Something
100 Million
Fast
Suicide
Roky
BBQ Pope
Pittsburg to Lebanon
Cowboy Bob
Cherub
Negro Observer
Bong Song
Hey
Creep in the Cellar
X-Ray
Goofy's Concern
To Parter
Tornadoes
GJK
Gary Floyd
Graveyard
Who Was in My Room Last Night

Encore:

22 Going On 23
Jimi
Cartoon Song
The Shah Sleeps in Lee Harvey's Grave
Comb