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Released by: ABC Entertainment
Released on: 11/23/2010
Director: Gunther Kutsch
Cast: The Cramps
Year: 2006
Purchase From Amazon
That Goddamned Rock 'N Roll:
Lux Interior was taken from this world far too early on February 4, 2009, a day that brought those of us with good taste quite literally to tears. The wildest frontman in the history of rock and roll (yeah, I said it - eat it, Stooges loyalists!), Lux was a veritable god monster, a garbageman, a human fly, a mad daddy and a Dr. Fucker all rolled into one. He and guitar player/female companion Poison Ivy Rorschach were rock and roll royalty of the highest degree and kept The Cramps running for well over three decades before the esteemed Mr. Interior was wrongfully called before his time. What they left was a musical legacy which would go on to influence countless imitators, contemporaries and wannbes and, not to be outdone, some genuinely good acts as well.
Which brings us to this DVD, a document of the band's live performance at the Lokerese Festival held in Belgium on August 7, 2006. That date right there should clue you in that this is later era Cramps, but even here, fast approaching sixty, Lux and the band are in fine, fine form indeed. But yeah, that band, who is in it this time around? Well, aside from the omnipresent Ivy on lead guitar (a Gretsch hollow body, if you're counting) we've got Chopper Franklin on bass and Bill 'Buster' Bateman on drums. There have been better line ups, but there's also been worse. Bateman and Franklin provide a perfectly steady backbeat for Lux and Ivy to play off of, even if Bateman lacks the showmanship of Harry Drumdini (who, the first time I saw him play, pulled off a drum solo using giant bones instead of proper drum sticks) and Chopper lacks the androgynous cool of Slim Chance or the fuzzed out sex appeal of Candy Del Mar. These guys are pros, no doubt about it, and it shows in this video. At any rate, as with any Cramps performance, Lux's over the top showmanship stands as a remarkable contrast to the rest of the band's calm, cool and collected demeanor (though at one point, you can almost see Ivy crack a smile - a rarity, to be sure). They play their parts well, masters of their craft all four of them.
The set list for this show, which runs about sixty four minutes (not fifty two as the packaging proclaims), is as follows:
Mad Daddy / Rock On The Moon / The Way I Walk / Hanky Panky / Hang Up / Fissure Of Rolando / Papa Satan Sang Louie / Big Black Witchcraft Rock (mistakenly identified as Big Black Witchcraft, where's the rock, ABC?) / It Thing Hard On / Primitive / Caveman / Let's Get Fucked Up / Dames Booze Chains And Boots / TV Set / Psychotic Reaction / Wrong Way Ticket / Tear It Up
A decent mix of (then) recent tracks from the band's final studio album, Fiends Of Dope Island, and classic Cramps material, this set takes a while to warm up. Part of the reason they don't seem to come out with guns blazing is that there's a big gap between the band on stage and the audience - the curse of playing a large festival such as this. That said, about half way through the set, the cork comes off the red wine and the mic stands start to get the pummeling Lux always seemed to think they deserve and by the time they finish their set with Tear It Up, Lux's cock is swaying to and fro from a hole he cut in his pleather pants with a shard of glass and all is well in the rock and roll universe.
Looking like some sort of transsexual Batman up there on the stage, even at a few weeks shy of his sixtieth birthday Lux shows the crowd how it's done. There's an energy here and a sincerity behind the double entendres and restrained profanity that is absolutely infectious. You might say to yourself right now, reading this, that you never wanted to see a man approaching senior citizen status with died hair and steel caps on his teeth rolling around partially nude screaming and wailing on a harmonica with his ass up in the air, fellating a microphone with Lovelace-esque intensity - but if you were ever lucky enough to catch the band live, well, you'll know full well that's just not true. You want it, and you're going to get it, and worst of all, you're not just gonna like it, you're gonna love it. Punch that wrong way ticket to Badsville and accept it, wimp.
By the time Lux waves his hands about and blows kisses to the crowd before he walks off stage, tossing a drum into the air as he leaves, the stage is littered in shards of broken glass, the stains of swilled red wine, and the dead bodies of microphone stands too stupid to get the fuck out of the way. The crowd cheers. The sun goes down and the moon comes up, and the eternal teenage goo-goo muck walks away as the video fades to black. Fitting and sad at the same time. Thanks for the music, guys.
Note: There is some perfectly valid speculation in certain circles as to the legality of this DVD release. The fact that it's NTSC Region 0 is one indicator that it might not be legitimate but certainly not enough of a red flag to get anyone's feathers up. What is more telling is the lack of any copyright or trademark information anywhere on the packaging. There are credits for the crew (though not for the band members) and even those who assisted at Hertz Rent-A-Car but no mention at all as to who might hold the copyright on this material. I'm not calling it a bootleg, because I don't know for sure that it is - I'm just throwing it out there for those who might be concerned about such things, but let me end with this - it would be a DAMN shame and a true fucking crime if Ivy wasn't getting anything from this release.
Eyeballs/Eardrums/Bop Pills:
The 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is a good one, shot professionally with multiple cameras it looks considerably better than most of the other Cramps live videos that have made the rounds over the years, simply because most of those are fan shot from the audience or side of the stage. The image isn't perfect - it's interlaced, though there weren't any obvious stair stepping issues on my HDTV even if that problem was pretty apparent on the PC while doing screen caps. Black levels are middling and grey in spots and the stage lights can suck up some detail in close up shots but these are minor complaints - as you can see from the pictures below, the picture quality is pretty good.
The audio, handled by a Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound track, doesn't fair quite so well. There are times where Lux's howl is more of a background noise when it should have been right up front in the mix, and you can't hear much audience reaction at all. Bass isn't nearly as strong as it should be and the drums lack punch. You can hear it all clearly enough but this won't be one of those surround mixes you use to get off to. Ivy's guitar fares better than the rest of the band, so there's that going for it, but the audio definitely could have been better.
Aside from the static menu, which offers song selection, this release is barebones. The cover art does contain the aforementioned credits on the reverse side as well as some still's shot during the performance, but that doesn't really count.
Can This Pussy Do The Dog?
It can, but it leaves room for improvement. The transfer is good and the audio, while far from remarkable, nothing to write home about but the absence of any extras, when the legions of Cramps fans around the world would love to get their greasy paws on whatever extra content might be available, is a disappointment. That said, if you're apt to stay sick and turn blue the way some of us are, slip on your nocturnal shades and head out to pick this one up stat.
Rest in peace, Mad Daddy.
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