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| Double Naught 3 |
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It’s hard to believe a year has passed since Paul Lacques
died. Time marches on, without any consideration, or even notice, of our
personal travails. And I suppose that’s how it has to be. One of the bands he
was a member of, Double Naught Spy Car, played last night at Maui Sugar Mill
Saloon, though under a slightly different name, Double Naught 3, the band now being
a trio. The last time I had seen them perform was at Paul’s memorial concert at
McCabe’s, which was back in April, with Danny McGough sitting in on keys. So I
was thrilled to see them last night, and curious how they were doing as a trio.
But, as it turned out, they weren’t a trio last night, for Kaitlin Wolfberg sat
in on violin with them for most of their set. The rest of the bill was
something to be excited about as well, a bill that included Lawndale, a surf
rock band, and Backbiter, a hard rocking band, both of whom have been around
quite some time.
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| Furious Nakamura |
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And kicking off the night was Furious Nakamura, a trio delivering
some delicious instrumental covers. This band was a whole lot of fun, getting
the night off to a great start. This is a band that is into Led Zeppelin as
much as surf. They jokingly introduced “Immigrant Song” as “
another surf classic.” A couple of guys joined
them on vibraslap for their cover of the theme to
Hawaii Five-0. These guys were ripping through their set, and
everybody in the room was digging their music. How can you not dig “Cissy Strut,”
especially with that great work on bass? There was brief talk about skipping “Surf
Rider,” but the drummer was rightly adamant about playing it and counted it off
before further discussion could happen. Then they began “Stairway To Heaven,”
but quickly moved into “Pipeline.” Yes, this surf rock band loves its Zeppelin.
Jonathan Hall, singer and guitarist of Backbiter, joined them on vocals for a
kick-ass rendition of Deep Purple’s “Highway Star,” the band jamming on it. And
then Bob Lee, drummer and vocalist from Backbiter, joined them on vocals for “Equalizer”
to wrap up the set. That song had some crazy energy. The set ended at 9:40 p.m.
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| Lawndale | |
Fifteen minutes later, Lawndale was ready to go. “
Let’s do it,” they said, starting their
set a few minutes earlier than scheduled. Why wait? Everything was right. And
they immediately got into things with a delicious number titled “Sasquatch
Rock.” Seriously. With that title, how could it not be enjoyable? There was the
slightest of pauses, and they went right into the next tune, moving along
quickly, following the lead set by Furious Nakamura. Who the hell has time or
patience for silence? There’s music to be made. And then, holy moly, they
delivered a surf rendition of “Greensleeves,” because clearly this was the
coolest night of music. After a moment or two of that piece, they went directly
into “Manic Depression,” the perfect song for the holiday season. Right? And
then back into “Greensleeves.” “
Don’t
forget to tip your bartender,” they told the audience, reminding everyone
that they got in for free. That’s right, there was no cover for this fantastic
night of music. A little later they asked, “
It’s
still okay to play Christmas songs, right?” And they proceeded to delight
everyone with a great sort of surf version of Vince Guaraldi’s “Linus And Lucy.”
Interesting to cover Vince Guaraldi without keys, but very cool. When they
finished, someone shouted out, “
Play it
again!” That wasn’t the only holiday number of their set. They also did a
surf version of “We Three Kings Of Orient Are,” sped up and way cooler than the
song deserves to be, and then straight into “Little Drummer Boy” and back into “We
Three Kings.” Their set also included “The Unforgiving Land,” taking us into
darker territory. But at that point, we could handle it, as we’d fortified
ourselves with large quantities of beer. Each note of that song rang out across
the landscape.
That was followed by “Wingtips,”
a totally fun tune. Their set ended at 10:34 p.m.
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| Marcus Watkins |
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“
We’re Double
Naught 3, but we’ve got a fourth member tonight,” Marc Doten told the
crowd. However, after they were done setting up and ready to go, Kaitlin
Wolfberg stepped off the stage for the first few songs. They opened the set
with what initially hits you as a cool, dark western, a tune titled “Double
Naught Spy Car.” So, yeah, that song puts the band in that category of groups
that have a song sharing the band name, along with two other groups that Paul
Lacques was a member of – Rotondi and I See Hawks In L.A. And with that we were
off and running, the band delivering some wonderful stuff right out of the
gate, which of course is nothing out of the ordinary for these guys. Marc
switched from bass to keyboard then for “The Mooche,” and with this tune the
audience entered a strange world of the band’s creation, a carnival on Saturn.
Hey, I hear we’re losing our rings. Nothing to worry about yet. Step right up,
step right in, the magic show has started. Leave your inhibitions and sanity at
the door, they’ll be well taken care of, don’t you fret. And now that we’d been
welcomed into the land of the weird, it was time for “Deutsch Bag,” where we
became part of some strange gypsy caravan traveling through the seventh ring of
hell. But of course it’s nice there this time of year. All three of those songs
were included on the
Comb In Blue Water
album.
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| Double Naught 3 with Kaitlin Wolfberg |
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Kaitlin Wolfberg then joined them on violin for the rest
of the set. She has played with a wide range of artists, both in concert and on
albums, including Robert Rex Waller, The dB’s, Fernando Perdomo, Alice Wallace,
Chris Price, James Houlahan, Feef Mooney, Millie McGuire, The HawtThorns,
Andrew Sandoval, and Tawny Ellis.
“
We’re going to play a shopping song,”
Marc told the crowd, and the band began “Kay Sara Sarah.” Kaitlin added a
wonderful element to the song, and everything felt right in the universe. Then
on “Helicopter,” Kaitlin managed to get a wonderfully eerie sound from her
violin. This tune also featured a great bass lead, and some really nice
back-and-forth between Marcus Watkins and Kaitlin, with folks in the audience
dancing. Marc then told the crowd, “
We’re
going to send this song out to our friend, Paul Lacques,” and they played “I
Rose In A Field,” which featured some beautiful work on violin. Oh yes, this
jam was certain to carry us through, or drive us through. “Macedonia 6-5000”
followed, and at the beginning we traveled through the outer reaches of space, eventually
landing upon a dance floor already crowded with creatures from a dozen worlds.
But we fit right in, no introductions needed. Marcus delivered some fantastic
stuff on guitar. “
The next song is a true
story, and it’s our theme song,” Marc said in introducing “Jan-michael Vincent
Rehab.com.” And the place became a crazy dance party. “
I want to hear ‘Danger High,’” someone in the audience shouted out.
Oddly, that was the next song on the set list, the last song on it in fact. It’s
one everyone always enjoys, and last night was no exception. The set ended at
11:42 p.m.
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| Backbiter | |
Backbiter is another three-piece band, but not an
instrumental group. This was the only band of the night to feature vocals on
all the material. It was also the hardest rocking band of the night. Dez Cadena
(of Black Flag and The Misfits) was scheduled to sit in with them, but, as
Jonathan Hall mentioned at the start of the set, he wasn’t feeling all that
great and so didn’t make it. The band rocked from the first tune, which I
believe is titled “Can’t Be Free.” And from there they charged forward, tearing
through their set, delivering some strong rock. At one point I thought the
drummer was going to obliterate his hi-hat. After four or five songs, Jonathan
said they were going to do some Astral Jets material, since three fifths of
that band was on stage. Dez Cadena is one of the other two members, by the way,
which is perhaps why these songs were included as part of the set list. The
first of the Astral Jets songs they did was “First Thought,” which had a great,
heavy, driving beat. It’s the title track from the new album (which I should
have picked up while I was there). The next song was one of my favorites of the
set, as it became an interesting jam, getting into some mellower, bluesy
territory before rocking again. Bob Lee sang lead on “That’s The Way Of The World.”
This set was a powerful ending to a great night of music.
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