Concert Review – Jesus Lizard – 11.14.09 at Paradise Rock Club (with Animal Hospital)

A chance to reunited Lizard was, in many ways, a dream that came true – I wasn’t living in US during the band’s original run and since  the band broke up in 1999, it seemed like there was a slim chance that they will get together or release any new records.  This year, however, brought numerous reissues of the band’s material (including “Inch” box set and remastered version of their four albums), as well as an announcement of a (long-awaited) new tour.
Prior to the show, a marquee with the band’s name and “sold out” notice got plenty of attention from those who were passing by.   There were plenty of reactions – from laughter to quiet admiration to people simply repeating the band’s name.
Around 9:20, the opener – Animal Hospital (a.k.a. Kevin Micka) – took the stage and played a set consisting of industrial/ambient material. Later on, David Yow renamed his project into Animal Planet and commented that he thoroughly enjoyed his set. Not bad for an opening act.
Around 10:30, Jesus Lizard finally started their set and to say that there were good is to say nothing. Yow was a man possessed as he spit, danced and even did a bit of stagediving (which is not officially allowed by Paradise policy). He also threw a microphone on the ground a couple of times and constantly interacted with an audience either by flipping a middle finger or making another comment about New England and “Bostonian motherfuckers.”
The rest of the band was not too far behind – it sounded as violent and loud as one expected to be. Also of notes was an awesome drum solo that McNelly played before an encore.
Some of the songs that were recognized from the set included “Destroy Before Reading”, “Glamorous”, “Seasick”, “Puss” (which the band kicked off the show with), “Mouthbreather”, “Then Comes Dudley”, “Bloody Mary” and “Monkey Trick”. In short, all the crowd favorites were there.
Although Prior to an encore, Yow came out dressed as an old man and promised that the band will return if the crowd will say it loud enough. Later on, he explained that he was dressed as his father and they never had sex, except for two times (maybe).
Correction: The old man turned out to be Billy Ruane (thanks to everyone who pointed this out).
All in all, it was all worth the money paid for the ticket – its rare to see a band that’s been around for as long as Lizard did and still see them in tip-top shape. Jesus Lizard delivered that night, for sure and my hope is that they will release a new album and hopefully will do even more tours in the future.