The Jesus Lizard

Best. Concert. Ever.

Yes, that is a serious statement. Imagine: 5 minutes before the curtain goes up, and I am actually feeling butterflies in MY stomach. I look at my brother, "Sean, I can't believe this, but I'm actually feeling butterflies in my stomach. That's never happened before." Sean grinned, "You should probably bring those expectations down a notch."

Moments later, the curtain rises, and there they stand. Confident, ready...

I can see them all clearly, and David Yow, the lead singer has this intense look of anticipation on his face. He stands about 6 feet from the front of the stage, and coils back... The drummer cracks off three beats and they EXPLODE into Puss --- David Yow LEAPS from the stage in the most glorious, energetic stage dive I've ever seen!


This picture is actually from later in the show, and it doesn't really do justice to his stage diving prowess, which was on display several times through the night.

The amazing thing is that, no matter where he was, what angle he was pitched at, surfing the throng of ecstatic, thoroughly invigorated fans, he still got out every word to every song - on cue - and sounded perfect! I can't believe how good they sounded.

The question quickly turned from are my expectations too high to how far beyond them will they actually go? They played all the best songs, including a 5 or 6 song encore that included Monkey Trick, Bloody Mary, ... I don't know, they were all there.

They finished with Wheelchair Epidemic. Yes, the very tune that I've had set as my message ringtone from February, 2008, to just a couple weeks ago when I got a new phone. Yes, you better believe I was belting it out with complete and uninhibited joy.

I'll never forget the look of David Yow, head down, stringy hair wet, crouching down and then running forward and lunging into the crowd... He spit on the stage in the middle of a tight series of lyrics w/out missing a beat. Fucking unreal.

Ever since I was a sophomore in high school (Sean a freshman), we've heard of their legendary shows. Their music is absolutely unique, rough, visceral, imaginative, brutal, and liberating, and influenced my ear tremendously over the years. They remain one of my favorite bands of all time. They totally nailed it to the wall and spit on it. To be able to see it them with Sean just made it an ideal night. Couldn't possibly improve it.