Out with Kevin to see the Ike Reilly Assassination. We saw IRA back in November for their You Put the Cunt Back Into Country pre-Thanksgiving show where we missed the last train and had to bum a ride from strangers.

Opening, with their second show ever was Western Fifth (or AKA “West End Filth”) (I linked to myspace, WTF?) They claim to be an Indie Folk band but they didn’t even come close to that IMHO. Compared to Trampled by Turtles, who were one of the opening bands during the Thanksgiving show, they were more of a rock band. They were handing out free CDs in duct tape wrapped sleeves with handwritten titles in Sharpie heh. We nabbed one and I’m looking forward to hearing it when we get home. Who knows what it will contain. Someone left a copy of the free CD on a toilet in the men’s room. Tell us how you really feel?

Epic Hero was up next. They are releasing their new album Blacking Out the Stars on 6/6. They get some local radio play and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve heard (which is now limited due to the fact that I have a CD changer to keep me busy ;)

Epic Hero started with a loud and rocking set and some serious crowd work. They were obviously more experienced than the second show Western Fifth. Unfortunately, due to the venue setup, I was unable to get a clear view of the entire band (and mainly their lead guy). Stupid pillars. Overall, I don’t care for their music. Some of their shit Kevin likened to getting your teeth drilled. I can only agree. Not my kind of thing. Kevin spent the last half of their set renaming the band; “Epic Failure” was my favorite ;)

The Duran Duran cover of “Ordinary World” was, well as corny as it may sound, just about as ordinary as you would expect. I certainly wasn’t as impressed as the numerous douchebags who were jumping up and down to the only song they recognized.

Ike came on at 5 to 12. A late start but Kevin proposed it was to keep him from playing too long like he did at Thanksgiving.

Ike opened up playing on the side (under the windows), alone and acoustic. His band kicked in and played LOUD. Absolutely fucking awesome kick off!

Unfortunately, after the rock hard kick off the tempo and tone really mellowed out. It’s possible that the poor sound control and acoustics had something to do with it but it’s also possible that IRA is just warming up. They are known for continuing to up the ante throughout the show and hitting their peak towards the end.

Just as I wrote this Ike did exactly what I had expected. It was almost as if he could read my mind and ramped up the performance to exactly what I was looking for. Fast, hard, and loud.

Crowd highlights included the #50 t-shirt wearing douchebag doing the moon walk and Electric Slide, the abercrombie toolshed playing air guitar for the unimpressed females around him, and the 1951 James Dean impersonator wearing a t-shirt with his cigarettes rolled up in his sleeve to show off his lame military tatoo.

What’s wierd is that the crowd seemed to thin as Ike really got into his show. I don’t know if the majority of the crowd packed towards the front of the stage (we were in the back) or if they all left after the mediocre performance by “Epic Boredom” before the headliner but it was noticeably more comfortable.

Overall a great show so far and one band I’ll definitely be returning to see time and time again, as long as the ticket prices remain reasonable ;)

Ike kicked in with an absolutely rockabilly harmonica and made Taylor Hicks eat his wannabe karaoke heart out.

They came back after a 5 minute set break hotter than ever! Their opening song really got what was left of the crowd back into it fast and the loudest applause of the night spread across the venue!

Sadly, towards the end of the show, he was so fucked up he couldn’t play. What he did play wasn’t all that great. Weird end to a great show.

See the three shitty pictures I took here (mobile). If I had known that you could bring in cameras *and* use flash (like everyone was doing 2′ from his face) I’d have better photos for you :(

Related posts:

1. Ike Reilly Assassination at First Avenue: Minneapolis, MN
2. ALT Boys Freestyle Team - MNRG Occupational Hazards: St Paul, MN
3. Little Memphis Blues Orchestra and Taylor Hicks: O’Gara’s Garage; St Paul, MN
4. Grand Old Day: St. Paul, MN
5. Minnesota RollerGirls Feast of Hurtin’ at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium: St Paul, MN