REVIEW: Cheap Heat, Jerry Rig and Flavour Tipped the Scales Against an Early Night In

Mar 11

03/07 @ No Fun, Troy

“There's a time and place for an early night in, but if Flavour, Cheap Heat, or Jerry Rig are on a bill near you, then it's probably time to break out the earplugs.”

I was on the fence about catching Cheap Heat, Jerry Rig, and Flavour at No Fun this past Saturday. I'd had a rough week and the thought of kneeling at the edge of the stage, taking photos, getting home late, editing photos, and writing it all up sounded like it might not tip the scales against slipping into bed. Something pulled at me magnetically from the stage at No Fun though and I'll let you guess how things panned out. (HINT: You're reading this article)

First up was Cheap Heat. They were the very first band I'd covered when I moved back to the area a couple years back. The well balanced mix of fury and fun I caught back at El Dorado (RIP & WELCOME BACK) hit just as hard on the stage at No Fun. Seeing them rip through a quick set gave me the same feeling as a shot of the pepper infused vodka my Ukrainian folks are so fond of. As it hits your system and clears your sinuses, you know a few things immediately: A. There's no going back. B. You're in for a night that will be talked about for years. And C. Memories will be fond but pretty fuzzy.

Cheap Heat exists somewhere between Ramones, your favorite song on an ‘80s hardcore compilation, and the kind of street punk that could only come out of our little edge of the Rust Belt. Belted vocals, maniacal drums, and buzzsaw guitar and bass cut through the air and left no prisoners. They were playing what they were playing and left no time for questions about it.

Next up was Jerry Rig. I'll be honest, they pissed me off. It was their second show and they were more locked in with one another than any band I'd seen in recent memory. I was expecting Oi (it's been a week and reading comprehension has suffered greatly) but instead I got tasty first wave ‘70s punk. Think Sham 69, Buzzcocks, & The Jam. Not terribly in your face, but very fun, a little serious, and certainly something you couldn't look away from. When they hit their last notes, they pissed me off again. I wanted so much more. I went and checked their socials to see where I could hear their standout track “Running Man,” and I'll let you guess how I felt when I saw a single link to a cell phone video of their first show. There was something addicting about their sound. It reminded me of a day so great it sticks in your memory and tumbles around in your brain until the edges get worn off. Eventually your recollection looks more like the ending of a movie than a series of events. I'm left wanting to go back but forced to twiddle my thumbs until they grace us with some kind of release. Hurry it up guys, I'm fiending here!

Flavour closed out the night with a boatload of synchronized licks, tight beats, and great hair. Flavour was your parents' (or grandparents' for our youngest readers) favorite band, slingshot through time into the present. The songwriting, the outfits, the guitar effects, and even their stage moves would make anyone who remembers the Nixon administration blush.

Usually I try to stay far away from the nostalgia drenched "look at me, I'm Jimmy Page" acts that cop the ‘70s style and repackage it into a pastiche, but with Flavour, there's something so much more natural about the way they give it back to you. These guys aren't desperately trying to grasp at grains of coke-soaked sand as it falls through their fingers — they simply took bands like T Rex, Thin Lizzy, and the other sorta-heavy-sorta-glam mid-’70s acts as genuine inspiration instead of a blueprint to copy backstage. I don't care if the mid-’70s are where you thrive musically or something you run from — catch Flavour live. You couldn't be disappointed if you tried.

As I walked home with a grin on my face, put there by a night of good music, cheap beer, and friends as far as the eye could see, I couldn't help but wonder how many other nights like these I'd missed out on due to the siren song of my sheets. There's a time and place for an early night in, but if Flavour, Cheap Heat, or Jerry Rig are on a bill near you, then it's probably time to break out the earplugs.