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"POST & COURIER AUG. 2003
"CITY PAPER MARCH 2005
JUNE-JULY2003
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| Hed Shop Boys play for wild crowd BY DEVIN GRANT Special to The Post and Courier It was Van Morrison who first sang the lyrics "The wild night is calling," and while the Hed Shop Boys didn't cover that particular tune Friday night, it could very well have been the band's theme song for the evening. It was a night filled with good music from a great local cover band, and although the evening had a decidedly off-kilter feel to it, a good time was had by all in the end. Well, almost everyone, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Led by guitarists Frank Royster and Bryn Wilson, the Hed Shop Boys recently added bassist Julian Volpe and Tom Hamer, both of whom also play locally in the Fire Apes. Volpe and Hamer replaced former Hed Shop Boys members Mike Pennington and Paolo Licciardi, and in the last few years the band has become one of the better cover bands in town. Part of the Hed Shop Boys' appeal is the fact that the setlist consists of classic rock from the '60s, '70s and '80s, and the vibe throughout the band's performance is kept upbeat. Royster handles the majority of the lead vocal duties, while Wilson does a great job of re-creating the classic guitar solos that one would find in songs by KISS, ZZ Top and The Beatles. Friday night found the Hed Shop Boys set up in the corner of the Wolftrack Inn on Highway 61 in West Ashley. I'm a fan of that small but friendly watering hole, mostly because one can stop in, have a cocktail and listen to some music without being bothered. Much like the Sand Dollar on Folly Beach or Gene's Haufbrau in West Ashley, it doesn't matter who you are or what you look like, you're welcome to sit at the bar. There were quite a few folks packed into the Wolftrack that night, and they all seemed to be enjoying the Hed Shop Boys, which began its first set with Paul McCartney's "Band on the Run." Royster has a rich voice that reminds the listener of early Elvis Costello. After a couple of more songs, including "And Your Bird Can Sing" and "I am the Walrus," Fire Apes leader John Seymour jumped in with the band to sing "SOS" and "Magic," a couple of cover songs the Fire Apes use in its act. Seymour also attempted to channel Jim Morrison during "Roadhouse Blues." After a short break the Hed Shop Boys returned to play some well-know tunes, this time belting out songs by the likes of Johnny Cash, Led Zeppelin, Rick Springfield, Bryan Adams and Reo Speedwagon. It was then that things began to get a bit interesting. First a drink was spilled in the front of the performance area of the bar. The spill was quickly cleaned up, but the floor was now slick and the people who were dancing in front of the band began to experience strange gravitational pulls from the ground, possibly caused by the cocktails they had consumed. One enthusiastic trio of dancers ended up falling face first into the equipment set up at the edge of the performance area. Another fan quickly became labeled a nuisance due to the fact that he couldn't seem to keep from tottering up to the lip of the band's area and then falling over mike stands and generally annoying the musicians. Then there was the woman who felt it necessary in between songs to show off the results of some recent cosmetic surgery. I can't go into exactly what kind of surgery was performed on the woman, but let's just say that the ban on silicone versions of this particular improvement was lifted just last week. All the while, those who could manage to keep their balance were treated to songs by the Marshall Tucker Band, Lynyrd Skynyrd and even the Traveling Wilburys. The Hed Shop Boys version of the Wilburys' "Handle With Care" was pretty impressive, as were the rest of the bands' covers. Before closing the last set with KISS's "Rock and Roll All Night," Wilson acknowledged that the evening had been a wild one. "I've been doing this for a long time," said Wilson, "and this is one of the stranger shows I have ever played." Devin Grantcan be reached at chucktowncritic@yahoo.com. |
"GRAFFITI" MAY-JUNE 2006
POST & COURIER NOVEMBER 2006