Pork Chop Express

Tonight I found myself at the good old Boro Bar and Grill for the infamous Pork Chop Express. Fathers hide you daughters and mothers hide yourselves, no one is safe from these X-rated rockers. It was good to be back at the Boro after over 10 years, still the same smokey, loud hole that it's always been. And after tonight, it's just a little dirtier.

The openers were Nashville based reggae/ska outfit Paradise Daze. They started off with typical reggae, playing the same 2 chords and repeating a chorus about how we need to "love one another". I was glad to see that as the show went on, they picked up the tempo and really showcased what they could do, as they were pretty good players. The 2 part vocal harmonies were spot on even with the rapid fire lyrics. I was impressed by the bass player's ability to take the bass line, play pretty much the same line through a whole song, but still keep it interesting. His P-bass/Ampeg rig sounded really good and shook the little Boro to the core. It was fun to see Daze try to out-filth Pork Chop with a couple of their own dirty songs. As raunchy as they were, a couple of dirty songs is no match for the degenerate headliners.

Pork Chop took the stage, joining their mini blow up dolls and sheep. After at least three minutes of looking at the bar waiting for them to turn off the house music, they introduced themselves and gave a nonchalant promise to "rock our balls". And rock them they did. The dual guitar attack and hard hitting Music Man bass riffs were tight and well delivered, anchored by the solid drumming of Curt Redding. Chris Mac did a great job laying down rhythm guitar for Randy Boen to shred solos over, all the while remembering all the polluted words. The great part about this band is that aside from all the filthy sexual lyrics and inter-song banter, the songs are quality rock songs. With intricate changes and multiple sections, these guys are no joke as far a songwriting is concerned, however contaminated they may be. That's not to say that the comments between songs and the vocal content aren't a very entertaining, as well as important part of the whole spectacle. The seasoned Pork Chop fans spent a fair amount of time gritting their teeth and pulling at their collars, while the poor patrons that were just looking for somewhere to swill fancy beer were often wide-eyed at some of the comments from these apparent sleaze fiends. Jeff Taco's deadpan delivery is enough to make anyone spit out their no-name micro-brew. By the end of the show, the "earmuff" crowd had thinned out, leaving the handful of dedicated fans to enjoy the last 2 songs, which were among the most vile, as well as clever selections of the night.

It will be interesting to see where this band goes. Will they stay with the consistent juvenile sex shtick, or will they take it to the next level, hell bent on offending and captivating the universe? With the talent these guys have, they could do both. Well. Hopefully, the universe will stick around to catch the whole show.