—
Jon Spencer Blues Expbsion
delivers dynamite performance \
By Jeff Randall
Music Critic
Jon Spencer is a man divided.
On stage, he is a gut-wrenching
personification of all that makes up the
blues, punk rock and theatrics. He is
cocky, he struts, and he flails across the
performance space with abandon. His
shouted Southern drawl often lowers
into a guttural sound that shakes the
floors and brings forth cheers of ap
proval from his wildly kinetic fans.
Offstage, he is a soft-spoken man
with little to say and, seemingly, all the
time in the world to say it.
Spencer and his band, the Jon Spen
cer Blues Explosion (consisting of gui
tarist/vocalist Spencer, guitarist Judah
Bauer and drummer Russell Simins)
was in Omaha Wednesday night to play
at Sokol Hall.
And whatever demon it is that pos
sesses Spencer while on stage, it was
eager to please on Wednesday night.
It was evident from the opening
moments of the show, in which Spen
cer got the crowd roaring with his
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“Bellbottomsto the closing moments,
in which Spencer and the Blues Explo
sion took the whole thing to an unbeat
able climax that left the crowd sweat
ing and visibly shaken.
Spencer had spent half the show
either in the air or on his knees, using
the lights of the stage and the irresist
ible force of rock ‘n’ roll to exorcise
whatever demons he had within
Before the show, Spencer gave no
indications of being a man prone to
possession. He stood quietly among the
roadies and concert-hall staff as they
pushed each peice of equipment into
place, overseeing the job and occasion
ally lending a hand.
This is presumably the routine be
fore every show. And the Blues Explo
sion have been doing this nearly every
night since October, when they re
leased “Now I Got Worry,” their sev
enth album.
“We’ve been doing this for so long,
but it’s hard to stop,” Simins said be
fore the show. “After all the recordings
and remixing and whatever, we’re still
a live band.”
Spencer’s take on the road life was
much the same.
“It’s been good,” he said, even
though no more than five hours later,
he would be on his knees testifying to
a crowd full of strangers that being so
far away from home was nearly killing
him.
This contradiction took place dur
ing the last song of the band’s first set,
when the two-chord strum of “Sticky”
had degenerated into a sparse guitar
and drum background for Spencer’s
extended exorcism.
The Blues Explosion had spent
nearly an hour before that in a rock
induced fury, with Simins providing
rhythms that sounded as though they
only could have come from a madman,
Bauer playing the quiet sidekick and
Spencer bringing everything together
by infusing both the band and the au
dience with enough adrenaline to keep
the show going forever.
As a live band, the Blues Explo
sion is one of the greatest this world
has ever seen. Its individual members
are seemingly joined by an unseen
force that makes every second of ev
ery song into a tightly woven nugget
of rock ‘n’ roll.
They displayed this otherworldly
ability on nearly every song — start
ing, stopping, ffeestyling and starting
again with master hands.
And while this ability may be the
result of accumulated musical talent
and practice, it is also the result of ev
ery band member’s belief in live per
formance as the essence of a rock band.
“You see some bands that are out
there, like the Prodigy, it’s like they
have this great persona,” Simins said.
“And they have all this energy and
great voices and they can really play.
“But after five minutes, you just
lose interest. I mean, I love their al
bums. They just don’t know what to
do when they get on the stage.”
Long months and years on the road
have contributed to the Blues
Explosion’s stage proficiency, but so
have their experiences with other art
ists—especially Mississippi bluesman
R.L. Burnside, for whom the Blues
Explosion played backing band on his
last two albums, “An Ass Pocket of
Whiskey” and “Mr. Wizard.”
Please see SPENCER on 13
JON SPENCER gets dawn — literally — daring the Blees Explosion’s
performaRce Wednesday Right at Sekel Hall In Omaha.
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SPENCER was a little less aaimated aad a let qeieter la the dressiai
room before the shew.
Photos by
Lane
Hickenbottom