Electric Six “Rocks Ass” At Dante’s

Dick Valentine

By Christian Lipski
Photos by Deborah Lipski

Dante’s, Portland OR
November 13, 2009

Dante’s is the cleanest dirty bar I’ve ever been in—broken-brick interior and lit-up bar-tops—but without that fear of infection that you get from most dark holes in the wall. A perfect venue for Electric Six—who are dirty dirty boys, but in a fun way—on their “I’m Trying To Cut A Fucking Spot, Tony” tour. They’re joined on the tour by fellow Detroiters Millions of Brazilians and Big Apple duo The Gay Blades.

The Brazilians were up first, a drummer and two guitarists playing danceable rock with occasional falsetto, which provided a good match to Electric Six’s sound. The lack of a bass player was not noticeable, as lead guitarist Derek Dorey was able to modify his sound to fill in the low end or mimic a synthesizer at times, when he was not supplying some hard riffs. Singer Nicky Cicchetti was always on key, with a Hot Hot Heat/The Kooks sort of open delivery, and drummer Zozzy Gruse was constantly entertaining to watch, standing up at times and playing any surface near him.

Dorey and Cicchetti

During an instrumental break in their final song, Cicchetti took a tom from the drums and wandered into the room playing it. The stage patter needed work, being a little rambling and unfocused, but the band’s music was worth hearing.

Clark Westfield

A short time later The Gay Blades took the stage after asking for the “uncool” lighting to be lowered, and I confess I wondered why they were not the openers. Frontman Clark Westfield kept the crowd’s attention with his spiritual-flavored patter, but the songs were generally hard to follow. He played guitar, accompanied only by drummer Puppy Mills, prompting comparisons to the White Stripes, but the guitar sound was muddy and the singing untrained, though passionate. Westfield had tons of energy, and spent a lot of his time jumping around the stage between lyrics. At one point he held the room entranced, as he sang/rapped off the top of his head about members of the crowd, exhorting them to raise their hands and believe with him. The drummer played a stripped-down kit to decent effect, but overall the impression was of a band with more energy than polish.

Pages: 1 2 3 4