Review by Jake Thomas

This show had a line-up custom made for me, I didn’t even have to cross the bridge to see it, and there was a donut shop right down the street…it’s pretty obvious I was a happy dude this evening.

At this point, I don’t even know how many times I’ve seen The Mothballs, but this was one of the better shows I’ve seen by them. It was Carlos’ birthday and the general assumption was they were playing first so that the band could get nice and drunk afterwards. I’m pretty sure they were fairly sober, as it was definitely the best they’ve played from a technical standpoint. As always, the between song banter had me laughing like i always does…a combination of bad jokes and inappropriate comment always has that effect on me.

I didn’t know anything about Dream Date before this show, but apparently they practice next door to The Mothballs so they asked them to be on the bill. And good thing they did, as they were pretty damn good…had sort of a classic girl-group meets garage sound, kinda like the Pipettes from the UK. They played a cover of “Monster Mash” in lieu of it almost being Halloween, and a handful of originals. It was a short set, but plenty enough to pique my interest and want to see them again.

The previous times I’ve seen the Husbands, I can’t say that I was particularly wowed by them - not bad, just “eh”. But maybe it was because I was in a good mood from the previous two bands or maybe they just sounded better, but I definitely enjoyed their set this time. Actually, it was probably because they covered one of my favorite songs, “Cadillac” - a Bo Diddley tune but when I think of it it’s always as a Kink’s song as featured on their first record. Nonetheless, it was a good short set, very high energy as you might expect, and all around a swell time.

Before Harold Ray started their proper set, a few of the guys from that band in combination with one of the Husbands performed a couple of Roky Erickson songs - they even had a name for the band but I forget what they were calling themselves. Apparently last year they played a whole set of his tunes, and I’m unsure why nobody let me know about that but I’m a little pissed about it. Anyways, they played “Don’t Shake Me Lucifer” and another track and both ruled…hopefully they will get together again and play a full set, because you can’t have enough Roky.

And then Harold Ray as a full band played, and what a wonderful outing it was. Like The Mothballs, I’ve seen these guys I don’t know how many times (often on the same bill together), but I know for a fact that this was the best I’d ever seen them. Fresh off a win in the soul category at the SF Weekly awards, they sounded as tight as…well…something that sounds real tight. It was hit after hit, plenty of entertaining banter, and I believe the singer Jason even dedicated the whole set to Bill King, the recently passed long-time Oakland A’s announcer. I don’t know if it was the band or the room or the hallowen costumes or all of the above, but something just “worked” on this night and it was a brilliant performance in all regards. It is nights like these that remind me why I go see this band so damn much.

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Check out our previous Harold Ray: Live in Concert reviews:
August 26, 2004 @ Hotel Utah
June 9, 2005 @ The Rickshaw Stop

Check out our previous Thee Mothballs reviews:
January 21, 2005 @ Thee Parkside
June 9, 2005 @ The Rickshaw Stop



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