This past Saturday, June 29th, a self-described Rockabilly Invasion ensued bringing with it some of the top name in the Rockabilly world. A full audience was happy to partake in the happenings of this so-called invasion creating an atmosphere of rowdy, drunk, and hip rockers ready to follow their leader, the Reverend.
To warm up the crowd before the invasion began, The Hooten Hallers took stage bringing with them a fire storm of energy and a deep ocean of blues. The trio made their way here from Missouri to tear down the walls of normal living and rock the world with some blues. With a pinch of honky tonk and a hint of punk, the trio created live art on the stage, impressing all audience members.
Hooten Hallers then passed the Molotov lit torch on to The Delta Bombers who insured everyone that this Rockabilly invasion was indeed a good idea. With 10 years of touring experience under their belt this group was as tight as can be up on the stage. Chris Moinichen, the groups lead singer had a voice that could go so deep you would think you were listening to a truck horn rather than a man singing. The band now has four studio albums to pull songs from and barley even took a breath before pulling out the next song from their discography. As an added bonus to this set, the band took stage with matching denim suits giving a fine aesthetic to this invasion.
the audience warmed up and the smell of revolution in the air it was time for a psychobilly freakout to occur. Taking the stage sometime past 11 the Reverend Horton Heat walked in and broke into their hit song, Psychobilly freakout, a term you might recognize from a sentence before. Normally I’d refrain from word repetitions close together but I think it’s worth highlighting the degree of freakout that took place in the room once the Reverend was on stage.
hard to explain Psychobilly to those who haven’t heard it personally but imagine fast paced punk influenced southern rockabilly music with heavy elements of surf and blues. I know it’s a lot to take in, but it will all make sense when you finally experience the genre for yourself. The band played upwards of 25 songs to insure a successful invasion. Afterall, a proper invasion can’t be short and quiet. It needs to be loud and long so that people remember it. And remember the invasion they will.
Reverend Horton Heat brought some special guests along with them for the ride. First to join them on the stage was a Jerry Lee Lewis impersonator who rocked keys and backup vocals bringing some fun theatrics to the stage. A while later Bloodshot Bill joined the stage too. Based out of Montreal this rockabilly musician has been playing on stages since the late 90’s all over the world. While he’s known for his powerful one-man band act, he humbly took only a guitar with him on stage. With a full lineup of impressive musicians on the stage the invasion was in full swing. The date of the show was Minneapolis’s hottest day of the year. It’s a good thing the night air cooled the city because the heat generated by the Reverend mixed with the days temperatures would certainly have caused some spontaneous combustion.
So, if you don’t mind the threat of spontaneous combustion and want to be a part of something bigger than yourself. Grab your gear and join the Rockabilly Invasion.
