 |
| All photos courtesy of Molly Weiss |
Musical performer, performance artist, actor, filmmaker, and photographer Tav Falco
On the night of the show at the Rodeo, I was feeling a little cranky. It had been a drizzly and dreary autumn day that started off badly after I woke up at the break of dawn and couldn't get back to sleep. Things only got bleaker once I went online and saw the headlines: Billionaire mayor Bloomberg had conducted a middle-of-the-night raid on Zuccotti Park during a media blackout, ousting OWS protesters and their tents, belongings, archival footage, and books. (The People’s Library was demolished and transported to a dumping ground uptown.) Perhaps the alchemist Falco and his band could work some magic and salvage a gloomy day...
The show began with belly dancing by a beautiful lady wearing flowers in her hair. It turns out this particular Salome was none other than Giovanna Pizzorno, drummer for '80s all-girl Memphis band the Hellcats. (She lives in Rome now and regularly plays with Panther Burns in Europe.) Once Pizzorno took a seat behind her drum kit, she proved that good dancers are often great drummers. She was joined by dapper and flamboyant guitarist Peter Dark (Bellmer Dolls), whom Falco later referred to as "the Rachmaninoff of the band," and master craftsman Ken Stringfellow (the Posies) on bass. The trio played for a few minutes on their own, and then Tav Falco himself emerged and took center stage. The quartet, now complete, launched into a spooky and derailed version of Wanda Jackson's "Funnel of Love."
Next up, the band shambled through "Tobacco Road," followed by "Blind Man," a Panther Burns' classic from Behind the Magnolia Curtain. At this point in the show, I was still feeling a little out of sorts. Most of the sold-out crowd was squashed into a narrow area in the back of the club. There were tables in front of the stage, but the seats were all taken, plus they were charging $15 a drink up there. (They call the Rodeo a honky tonk?) Fortunately, things loosened up soon enough. The uptight restaurant manager seemed to disappear, and people started moving up, occupying the space up front, and surrounding the stage.
As energies in the room started to lift, so did my spirits. Panther Burns cast their spell and lured me in, playing covers and originals from the early days up to the present. Midway through their set, Falco channeled the ghost of '50s Italian crooner, movie star, and car crash victim Fred Buscaglione ("Guarda Che Luna"). Later on, the band paid homage to late, great rockabilly queen Cordell Jackson, covering "Dateless Night" and "She's the One Who's Got It." As for originals, two of my favorites were "Tina, the Go-Go Queen," who could shake her fanny like a tambourine & a washing machine, and a new song, "Garden of the Medicis," in which Falco rhymes "enchanted place" with "I don't want to see another pretty face," a sentiment I can definitely relate to, especially lately.
I can't neglect to mention what a great dancer Tav Falco is. For the sixth song of the set, he brought up tangoist Via Kali; the mesmerizing duo locked eyes and proceeded to skip the light fandango and turn cartwheels across the floor. Guitarist Peter Dark and bassist Ken Stringfellow also stepped up to the plate with their own fancy footwork, periodically abandoning the stage and playing from table tops.
Panther Burns blazed through four songs to finish their show: "Brazil", "My Mind Was Messed Up at the Time", "Gentleman In Black", and "I'm On This Rocket". With a rose pink, maraschino infused cocktail in his hand, Tav Falco bid adieu to his fans, wishing us "Happy trails" and encouraging everyone to "be animalistic and play fair."
Here's a great Tav Falco video + interview from the '80s:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=HyACrSFt5GA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=HyACrSFt5GA
And a 2008 interview with Falco by Erik Morse:
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment