Mephiskapheles @ Sea Sea’s, Moosic, PA
Live Reviews | Apr 10th, 1999
Opening Bands: Inspecter 7, Space Ate Mafia
Date: April 10th 1999
Venue: Sea Sea’s, Moosic, PA
I haven’t seen Meph in awhile and I was wondering what was going with them. I remember seeing them back at the NESF in August and seeing that they didn’t look like they wanted to be there.
So i figured there was going to be a break up, but no, they are back..BUT with a whole new lineup. Well let me first talk about the other bands playing. The first band was Space Ate Mafia and I didn’t pay attention to them because I was at the Convenient Store. I got back in time to get on top of my favorite spot at Sea Seas, the top of the speakers. That view is good to see the band and the dancing, SO NO ONE TAKE MY SPOT!
Anywho, I-7 was on next and they got up there and just went to town. First they played “reshape” and then went into “Molotov,” which is on the new album. They also played a lot of old songs like “Hub city Stompers,” “See Ya,” “Sharky 17,” and “Regret.” They played great in my mind and everyone else’s minds because everyone was dancin. I-7 has a really good sound and if you haven’t seen them live yet, you’re missing out. During the break, I saw some of the members of Skinnerbox walking around so I was wondering if they are in Mephiskapheles now. So they approach the stage with some other new faces. The only 3 original members left are Greg (t-bone), Andre (singer) and Brian (keys). Dave, the big dude bass player and the drummer of Skinnerbox are now in the band. Plus another guitar player and a sax player. They started off with “Hard Times,” and went into “Bumble Bee Tuna.” Afterthat is one of my favorites “Centre of..” and then they went into a new song called “Eldorado.”
Let me tell you something, Meph got HARD! most of their new songs are so heavy, maybe similar to hardcore. As usual, Jay Boxcar of Inspecter 7 was hardcore dancin’ on the side, I always see him go crazy for Meph. Some of their new songs are called ” Devil’s Due,” “Cheap Thrill.” and “Social(?).” Andre sung so low that you couldn’t even hear him half the time, which is typical. The other old songs they did were “Saba,” “Sate,” “Mephiskapheles,” ” Break Yer Ankle Punk,” and my favorite “Doomsday.” Overall, Meph played better than they have been playing with the older band. They rocked and so did Inspecter 7.
