The Grayces’ vinyl release show on Saturday night at The End proved to be one of the stranger nights we’ve witnessed. First, there was an inspiring performance by The Mattoid, who treated us to some sensible, nonsensical rock, one straight-faced, faux-Communist monologue, and several melodramatic ramblings by the lead singer/Pavarotti-lookalike, Villa Kiviniemi (of Finland). After he managed to get everyone in the room to listen to his dream about wishing that there were "a crack whore in heaven who can sell [him] pussy and crack," it was time to sing along to the infamous "Party Time."
Burlesque dancer, The Violet Vixxen sidled onstage for a short, sultry striptease, and then it was time for the moment that everyone had been waiting for.
The Grayces rocked everyone’s faces off, (not surprisingly), grinding their way through ten energetically raw wailers, and one persnickety encore. They played their usual crowd pleasers with additional flare; we were certain that "Yep’s" yodels were shriller, "Opposite Day’s" screams were lengthened, and the extra smarminess of "Needer" left the crowd lusting after lead singer Murielle Rae, and needing to hear more.
Naturally we had to get a copy of their record, whose A and B sides consist of all three of those songs. Jackpot! There were also some tunes we hadn’t heard before, including the cheeky encore, whose hook consisted of lots of "la la la’s," which Miss Murielle smirked through the entire time.
The Grayces truly packed the pizzazz into their performance, and after seeing more of their brilliance through a longer set list, we look forward to listening to their record, and seeing what they will do in the future. It’s fairly obvious they are going to do something.
As the night came to a close, Hans Condor flew by us with such vigor, and kicked our asses so hard that we didn’t have time to think about when the last time was that we saw them play. Their lineup was different, although everyone still seemed to enjoy the Detroit garage rock, and Charles’ mass of hair. He and his guitar barreled off of the stage into welcoming arms during one particularly wild number – couldn’t understand the words enough to guess at a song title – with just the kick drum blasting away and the distortion from his guitar seemingly propelling him along as he whirled and twirled through a solo in the middle of the crowd. Catch them playing at Foobar March 20th.
Also make a point to see the Grayces at Springwater on April 17th and the Mattoid at Little Hamilton on March 19th.
After seeing the sights and hearing the tasty treats at The End on Saturday night, everyone can say they went to bed with "just desserts." – Erin Manning