Mini Review; The Black Lips, Lee's Palace, Toronto, Spring 2007

In the wake of so many pretty-boy punk bands hyped by the music industry in an ever increasingly desperate attempt to remain current, I was prepared to dislike this Atlanta-based group. Instead, the Black Lips were surprisingly energetic, and used their sheer nerve to overcome obvious comparisons to fellow hard rocking Stooges disciples like Thee Hypnotics. In fact, they showed a few of us aging cynics that there are bands still eager to rock hard, without pretending to be hardened street punks.
The Black Lips' high energy music is complemented by raucous performances, although the antics that are becoming part of their reputation generally took a back seat to the music tonight. There were occasional moments of gratuitous silliness, which was only mildly distasteful, but thankfully the band seemed more intent on getting across with their music instead of the odd bit of spitting or drooling. With respect to stage antics like this- either do something crazy or don't, but mere drooling between verses is hardly shocking or necessary at a show that is rocking in it's own right; the band didn't seem particularly inebriated and the audience was with them from the first song. Altogether, the Black Lips put on a pretty hot set at Lee's Palace, although in retrospect their slot as the opening act perhaps ought to have been reversed.


Note; I slapped this quick review together, saved it with notes on a different topic altogether, and came across it while looking for something else entirely. Pictures of this entertaining night are at www.flickr.com/photos/emangrooving in the 'Live Pics' set.