SOUNDTRACK: THE DISTILLERS-Very Special Christmas Special, “Baby It’s Covid Outside” (December 18, 2020).
Despite going to many live shows, I haven’t watched a lot of streaming concerts. It’s not the same, and I don’t really like watching things on my computer anyway.
I’m not exactly sure what prompted me to buy a ticket for this one. I saw The Distillers last year and enjoyed the show. But I feel like I didn’t get to fully appreciate it because the crowd was really rowdy and knew the band far more than I did.
So this seemed like a chance to see them “live” up close. The entire special was barely 40 minutes. This is a bit of a bummer, but at the same time, it was really a perfect length for me.
In addition to the music, there were some skits. As the show opens, Black Metal Santa unpacks some presents from his sack. There’s a gun on a stack of presents, he pulls out a squeaking chicken dog toy and then a very adult toy. He turns around, all Black Metal and says “Merry Fucking Christmas boys and girls, here’s The Distillers.”
On a well-decked-out Christmas-themed set The Distillers start to play. There’s all kinds of Christmas things–blow up snowmen and giant stocking as well as digital flames. And a full rig of lights. The band sounds great and the recording is well mixed. The drums and bass sound huge.
They open with “Sick of It All.” Brody Dalle is up front playing guitar and singing. To her right is Tony Bevilacqua on guitar. To her left is Ryan Sinn on bass. All three are wearing Santa hats. They all sing the opening verses and it sounds like a wall of vocals. Drummer Andy Granelli is not wearing a Santa hat, but he does have a knit cap on. The song sounds great–a blast of punk to celebrate the season.
They follow with the outrageously catchy punk of “Oh Serena.” When I saw them, they opened with these two songs as well. But this set list deviates somewhat.
Up next is the quieter “L.A. Girl.” It starts with everyone playing softly while Brody sings. Then the whole band kicks in with massive drumming and some tasty bass fills. A martial drum beat opens “I’m a Revenant.” Both guitarists play the lead riffs before Brody starts singing. This song has some great sing-along moments as well as a brief part where it’s just Brody before the band marches in again.
“Sunsets” comes next. They didn’t play this when I saw them. Brody’s guitar is clean as the song opens. She sings without a snarl. The song does not turn into a balls out rocker. It stays slow but gets very intense. Bevilacqua makes interesting bendy sounds from his guitar in the middle jam section. The song slows to a bass rumble before some Christmas music starts playing.
Black Metal Santa comes out and gives Brody a present. It’s the album Faith by The Cure. But there’s nothing inside–it’s just the cover. Black Metal Santa says, “Its my ‘Primary’ Christmas gift to you. A cover. Now play the damn song.” It’s an amusing introduction to the song “Primary,” which I did not expect at all. It sounds fantastic–close to the original, but heavier and obviously with Brody’s vocals sounding very different from Robert Smith’s. She restrains her vocals until a loud snarling “oh remember” part.
Brody removes the Santa hat for “Dismantle Me” and the lights get brighter so you can see her more clearly. This song has a great split with really fast guitars from Bevilacqua and slower guitars from Brody.
The super fast chords continue into “Die on a Rope.” This song also has some “Oh way oh” parts that are really catchy for such a dark song. The middle jam is just bass and drums and Bevilacqua’s squeaky feedback while Brody sings. There’s some thunderous drumming in the end as they jump into “City of Angels.” This song is really catchy as she and the boys sing together. There’s another cool middle section of just Brody’s guitar and noisy guitar sounds from Bevilacqua before the band roars off again.
The song ends and Brody looks off stage and says “Jesus.” Granelli chides, “Brody, it’s Christmas.” But she points off stage and Jesus comes out. They ask what he’s doing there and he says it’s his birthday. They ask if he can make it snow. Jesus says he makes miracles happen–he’s got a guy. He calls a guy who comes down and the snow starts to fall. Jesus and the guy get in a fight over who actually makes the miracles happen. The guy says “ever since cofefe.” But Granelli stops them, “we’re trying to do a Christmas show here, knock it off.”
Brody takes the mic and says “this year’s been a real ass kicker. We’re looking forward to the new year.”
Then they start Ramones’ “Merry Christmas (I Don’t Want to Fight Tonight).” It sounds great and is a perfect set ender for a holiday special.
The show ends and they play the Ramones song over the credits. The band takes bows and makes snow angels.
It’s a fun special and totally worth the $15.
[READ: December 25, 2020] “The George Spelvin Players”
This year, S. ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar. This is my fifth time reading the Calendar. I didn’t know about the first one until it was long out of print (sigh), but each year since has been very enjoyable. Here’s what they say this year
You know the drill by now. The 2020 Short Story Advent Calendar is a deluxe box set of individually bound short stories from some of the best writers in North America.
This year’s slipcase is a thing of beauty, too, with electric-yellow lining and spot-glossed lettering. It also comes wrapped in two rubber bands to keep those booklets snug in their beds.
As always, each story is a surprise, so you won’t know what you’re getting until you crack the seal every morning starting December 1. Once you’ve read that day’s story, check back here to read an exclusive interview with the author.
It’s December 25. Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers, could’ve sworn she left that porridge bowl right over there [Click the link to the H&O extras for the story].
I started this story and thought it was so familiar that I was sure I had read it before. But as it went along, it didn’t seem familiar anymore, so maybe there is a similar component of it that I had read in another story. (more…)
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Back in 2021 I wrote:
S. took her Girl Scouts to see Acrobuffos and said it was great. I had actually wanted to go to the show but was on a Scout hike that weekend.
I Just Read About That... 