Bringing the Heat

I snuck out on my own Friday night and headed to Carrboro to see the Reverend Horton Heat (a.k.a. “Rev”) play the Cat’s Cradle. Boy was I not disappointed! It was almost the perfect show: tickets were just ten bucks, the opening act was entertaining, Cat’s Cradle is now smoke-free, the beer is reasonably-priced, and Rev. absolutely rocked the house. The only way it could’ve been improved was if Kelly could’ve been there, too, and the asinine mosh pit and the morons populating it had been somewhere else.

The thing I noticed almost instantly was what I didn’t notice aurally. That is to say, when Rev plays live what you hear is essentially what you hear on your CDs. The band doesn’t use fancy studio tricks on their recordings. It’s honest music, and when you hear them play live you begin to appreciate it. Last night’s show had only one song that was missing the original recording’s extra guitar part.

Jim Heath can play the heck out of a guitar, and last night his guitar was his focus. Rightfully so, as the trio’s music is so up tempo it would take a Herculean effort to both play and put on a spectacle onstage. He eventually did grandstand a bit, flashing occasional smiles to bassist Jimbo Wallace and the crowd as well as balancing on Jimbo’s upright bass.

Bassist Jimbo was the crowd favorite, with his name frequently getting yelled during the band’s short breaks between songs. He returned the love by playing his ass off the whole night. Then he reached out from onstage after the show ended, shaking as many hands as he could.

Behind the two was drummer Paul Simmons, who was absolutely phenomenal the whole show. Rev’s songs run at a breakneck pace, and Paul kept the beat like a maniac. I think he’s one of the best drummers I’ve ever heard play. I used to think no drummer could keep up with Foo Fighter Dave Grohl but I believe Paul Simmons could embarrass him.

Midway through the show a few audience members (including what appeared to be some Marines) started up a mosh pit right next to me. This would’ve been cool but the moshers didn’t respect the pit’s boundaries and bodies began flying into the crowd. After being nearly bowled over twice (once having moved as far to the left of the pit as possible), I began to get extremely pissed and spent the rest of the show watching more of the jerks careening around than I did the band.

The band played a solid, two hour set that included their classics as well as new stuff. Jim Heath was ebullient in his praise for the area’s musical talent and for the crowd’s reception. The show ended on such a good note, I left smiling in spite of the mosh pit, having more than my fair share of entertainment for the $10 ticket. It was an awesome show!