On Friday, July 8th, the legendary Reverend Horton Heat, with special guests Holy Hell, graced the stage of Scout Bar in Houston, Texas.
A large crowd gathered at Scout Bar last Friday night, and there was good reason. Reverend Horton Heat, the Texas-based psychobilly band formed in the late 1980s, is well-known throughout the world for their musicianship and entertaining stage show. Lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Jim “The Reverend” Heath isn’t called “The Modern Godfather of Psychobilly and Rockabilly” for nothing. The band’s signature sound, consisting of part punk rock, part hillbilly, part ska, part country n’ western and part rock and roll, is not something you’re likely to forget once you’ve heard it.
Opening the evening were Houston’s Holy Hell, a band that bills themselves as “country punk”. Their tagline “The more you drink, the better we sound”, is true at most concerts, and for just about any band. However, I found Holy Hell not only entertaining and talented, but also really funny. They were the perfect warmup act for Reverend Horton Heat. The audience was treated to their special, country punk cover versions of a variety of infamous songs, such as Willie Nelson’s “Whiskey River” and “I Gotta Get Drunk”, as well as Freddy Fender’s “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights”. Audience favorites were Garth Brooks’ “I’ve Got Friends in Low Places” and Buck Owens’ “Act Naturally”.
Holy Hell:
Mike Patterson Vox/Guitar
Steve Torres: Lead Guitar
James McDonald: Bass
Jimi Cavazos: Drums
As Reverend Horton Heat took the stage at exactly 9:30 p.m., a slight fog appeared, creating just enough of a smokescreen to diffuse the colorful lighting and interesting shapes that danced across the stage during “Big Sky”. As the band continued through the first few songs, a small mosh pit appeared in front of the stage. A small technical glitch occurred early on, but The Reverend took it all in stride, and used the break as an opportunity to tell a couple of the many hilarious stories of his life, life on the road, and all the interesting situations in which the band has found themselves over the years. In fact, fans who’ve heard versions (or versions of versions) of the stories, shouted out which ones they wanted to hear again. To Heath’s delight, he accepted the challenge, and entertained the crowd with the story of how he met LBJ. At another short break between songs, he told the story of how the band was stiffed by a promoter in Seattle in the 90s, but how their luck changed a week later, when they were offered a record deal after performing at a grunge concert, as the very last act, for free. RHH’s setlist included fan favorites “Psychobilly Freakout”, “Jimbo Song” and their cover of Motohead’s “Ace of Spades” during the encore. The music was excellent of course, and the stories? Well, they only added to the richness of the show by these veteran musicians. You have to hear them from Jim, though, because along with being the ultimate musician, he’s also the ultimate story-teller. This is a band you’ll want to see over and over again, and that, my friend, is no tall tale.
Reverend Horton Heat:
Jim Heath: Lead Vocals/Guitar
Jimbo Wallace: Bass
Jonathan Jeter: Drums
Setlist:
1) Big Sky
2) Baddest Of The Bad
3) Big Little Baby
4) Where In The Hell Did You Go With My Toothbrush
5) Five-O Ford
6) Baby You Know Who
7) Psychobilly Freakout
8) Big Red Rocket Of Love
9) Jimbo Song
10) In Your Wildest Dreams
11) Whole New Life
12) Let Me Teach You How To Eat
13) 400 Bucks
14) Galaxy 500
Encore:
15) Bales of Cocaine
16) Ace Of Spades (Motorhead cover)
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Lisa is a music photographer covering shows in the Houston, Texas area. She became interested in the craft after working in the media and with live performers, and while traveling the globe as an Army officer. Lisa believes that once an image is captured, it takes on a life of its own; a life which must tell the artist’s story in a single glance.
