Turbonegro Live: Rock Ain't Dead

Just about a week ago, I made the two-hour trip back home to Chicago to see Turbonegro play at the House Of Blues.

After a desperate search for parking (fucking Cubs game), and a meet-up with some dear friends at the Gingerman ($2.50 MGD...yes please) myself and my entourage made our way next door, unfortunately missing the opening band - a Queens of the Stone Age side project that I'm a little bummed not to have seen.

I'll admit freely that I slept on Turbonegro. I tend to shy away from bands that are pimped by Bam Margera as the dude seems to have some of the most questionable taste in music on the planet...anyone that claims that H.I.M. is the "best band ever" makes me very, very suspicious. Not getting into this band, however, was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made.

For those not in the know (and discussing the show with some people, I found out this is actually a lot of people), picture if you will a band that is able to combine KISS or Alice Cooper-style riffage with the speed and attitude of pop-punk heavyweights such as the Ramones. Now make that band Norwegian, and have almost all of their songs be novelty songs in terms of lyrical content that somehow don't wear thin. Ladies and gentlemen, you now have Turbonegro.

Rock and roll, in its purest form, is pretty well-known to still be thriving in bands like Deadmoon, The Supersuckers, The Immortal Lee County Killers and the countless acts that garner massive amounts of praise from publications like Razorcake (sidenote - does that zine still exist?). But there are few bands that are able to take that sound and that attitude and turn it into what is at least reasonable mainstream success. Turbonegro have certainly done that in Europe, and do just fine for themselves in the US - though it took a little while, the crowd at the Metro was close to capacity.

Since it's been a week my memory of the track list is hazy, though I do remember a handful - the opener was the storming "Age of Pamparius," they closed with "I Got Erection," (the only song I was familiar with when I got to the show), and some other tracks they played included "We're Gonna Drop the Atom Bomb," "Hell Toupee," and "Everybody Love a Chubby Dude." My only major gripe was that the set was a little short at just under an hour and a half - for a rock band like this I guess you can't expect a marathon, but Turbonegro have a healthy enough back catalog to support a much longer set.

The best part about the show was the fact that it was just out-and-out fun. The dudes seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves, put on a great show with plenty of swagger, and the crowd was into it from the first note. I had an absolute blast and this past week have been jamming little beyond the Turbonegro I've acquired since the show.

I know I need to catch a huge late pass on this band, but all in all it was a great night. I'd catch this band again anytime.