Gigs From Hell: True Stories From Rock & Roll’s Frontline
Book Reviews | Jan 26th, 2007
Author: Sleazegrinder, Ed.
Publisher: Headpress/Critical Vision
Genre: Music/Punk
Pages: 188
Retail Price: 9.99
Buy on Amazon.com link
Before I asked every band about their worst album (a piece in READ Magazine #24), I was going to ask about their worst gig. Unfortunately, these guys beat me to it, putting out this neat collection of road stories from a ton of bands.
Focusing on the really raucous sleazy punk n’ roll bands with some thrash and metal thrown in, the stories tend to tread over the familiar rock n roll territory of booze, drugs and sex. Since there are a LOT of band members contributing to this book — many of whom are in desperate need of an editor — the stories are, of course, uneven. The worst ones are way too long (the question is what is your worst gig, not what is your entire band’s history or a rundown of every bad show you had). Other stories are just mundane — every band has had their van break down, a member getting too drunk and sick to play, and a club owner fuck them out of pay. Having any or all of those happen to you may suck, but it doesn’t make for an interesting “worst gig” story. Half the book is dedicated with little variation to those themes.
But then there are a lot of great, funny, scary, fascinating, or simply well-written responses that make the book more than worth it. Some of my favorites include Porn Rock’s erotic game of Twister, ZD & the One Eyed Snakes on scary groupies, The Rockets and a graphic case of diarrhea, Extreme Elvis’ outrage at not being able to strip naked and piss on stage, and Shameless having their producer stolen by Eddie Money. Other good pieces include Caged Heat’s harmonica player learning to accept electric shocks received on stage, the Spider Rockets being chased through a field by a mad cow after a cow-tipping gone awry, and a funny primer on bandmate types by Sawtran.
The fourth chapter offers up the most evil, and therefore most interesting tales. These are the real nutty stories involving crazy groupie action, ultraviolence, junkie mayhem, and stuff you don’t even want to think about. Given the sleazy bands contributing and the nature of the book, at least as set up by the brilliant forward by the Dwarves’ Vadge Moore, it’s too bad the entire shebang isn’t over the top and amusingly crude like the fourth section. But overall, the book is great to flip through, and it succeeds at being fulfilling toilet reading.
Bottom Line: Some good stories, but much of it mundane.
Favorite Part(s): The sleazy, disturbing fourth chapter.
Overall Rating:
