What do you think Jon Spencer would do if he started going bald? Would he cling to the remnants of his trademark rockabilly quiff, like an aging hippy wringing the last few years out of his receding ponytail? Or would he opt for a suitably badass hairpiece? There must be someone out there filling the niche for rock’n’roll toupees. In fact, if www.helltoupee.com isn’t registered already, I’m having it.
I only ask because Spencer has been preaching his punk-blues gospel for nigh on twenty years now, and looking around a packed-out 93 Feet East it’s clear that many of the assembled faithful have already had to face this uncomfortable dilemma. For what its worth, the favoured solution seems to be “keep the bad-boy facial hair, but shave the rest”. John Spencer’s crowning glory, however, is as slick and seamless as his latest stab at the roots-rockabilly-revival hogshead, Heavy Trash. A more straight-up hip-shaking rock’n’roll proposition than the Blues Explosion, Heavy trash nonetheless still boasts as its main attraction Spencer’s southern-fried preacher delivery and trash-Elvis croon.
The rest of the band look and sound the part, sure, but the show definitely stands or falls on Spencer’s performance. Which is why it’s so disappointing tonight to find him so… disappointing. He seems to be just going through the motions up there, his banter sounds overly rehearsed, and his entire stage manner suggests a tired man trying very hard to pretend he’s got firewater in his veins.
By the end, even the greyest-sideburndest rockabaldie codger can only summon a half-hearted mumble in response to Spencer’s cookie-cutter callouts. Opening band the Micra Girls had a more lively and immediate stage presence, and they apparently didn’t speak English. Having said that, the album, Going Way Out With Heavy Trash, is a cracker, so this performance may have just been a casualty of a heavy touring schedule.
