If you were at the Hank Williams III show at Fletcher's on Thursday, Feb. 19, you are probably not around today to tell of it. If you've never seen a hellbilly in a moshpit, a "Three" show is the way to find out how many rock-drunk oil-tankers you can throw around a room. It's also a place to discover that southern courtesy can save you, if you're lucky enough to have a group of men with long, gray braids block those oil-tankers.
Or if you get your face smashed into often enough, you can leave like I did. Punk shows are nothing when compared to this crowd. Hank was exciting for about an hour -- until the music turned hardcore and there was the occasional bloody T-shirt. Scott Biram, the solo hellbilly who opened Thursday's show, was almost as energetic, and just as fun.
The crowd was only somewhat familiar with Scott Biram, but it took him half a song to get everybody dancing to his jumping guitar and strange hillbilly yodels. He came to the stage with ironic tales of the drink, the devil and the good Lord, not to mention some prison songs
After a long performance by Biram, Hank Williams III came onstage. "Three" is heir to the throne of legendary country star, Hank Williams. The original Hank was a hard-drinking, skinny rail of a man who died in 1953 at the young age of 29 after a quick ascent to fame with classic country songs of heartbreak and woe. His son, Hank Jr. grew up as country music royalty, making it big in the 70s and 80s with a harder rocking version of his father's country music, a genre that appealed to the rowdy redneck crowd. Three, who bears an uncanny resemblance to his famous granddad is one more generation and one more music-style removed from the classic music that Hank the First popularized. He's just as much of an outlaw as his forebears but Three specializes in a thrashing, metallic Southern rock, rowdier than his dad's music ever was.
The first set of his show is a throwback to older country styles and includes his grandpappy's tunes along with many of his own and some tributes to other old country heroes. As was expected, everyone went wild when Hank screamed, "Feel like some Folsom!" and slammed into Johnny Cash's "Cocaine Blues."
Although the first set consisted of classics -- and they were played to perfection -- Hank III and his band AssJack, punched a unique energy into every number. Songs were fast-paced, deafening and the band was physically insane on stage. Hank's songs in the first set included "Straight to Hell," "Little Bitta Smoke and a Whole Lotta Wine," "Drinkin Over Mama," and, my personal favorite, "Dick in Dixie." The lyrics of this last song include, "I'm gonna put the Dick in Dixie" ("dick" in this case is not a shortened version of the name Richard). Guess what Hank wants to put back in country?
A whole book should be written about the Assjack bassist, Joe Buck, who was the most exciting and frightening presence on stage. This anorexic-looking man holding an upright scared the hell out of me and I just couldn't keep my eyes off him. He was Satan's smiling skeleton dipped in a vat of acid, topped with a long mohawk. Throughout the show he never stopped leering and gnashing his pointy little teeth at the crowd.
To the horror of Curb Records, Hank III has a new baby: heavy metal. For over a year, Hank has been playing a heavy metal second set, and this is just as popular. He warned the old guard that they may not like what's coming up, and then switched into a screaming, note-ripping "This is AssJack" to introduce his fans to his love-child,whiskeyed-up and tattooed.
"F*** CURB RECORDS EVERY GODDAMN DAY! Our next day in court is February 27th and we'll see what happens, Curb!" also introduces the set because Curb has refused to publish what they consider is opposite to their idea of Hank III's sound. Hank's response is to tell fans to tape his shows and to distribute his unpublished music over the Internet. That's surprising for someone who could make a lot of money following orders from Curb Records.
Hank III's second set beat me up pretty good, but I really enjoyed the beginning. The rest of the Fletcher's crowd never lost interest, whether Hank III played hellbilly or hardcore or blues.
Courtesy of Http://www.subpop.com
