The Jesus Lizard, CLUB DVD

By Ann Clarke

Filmed in Nashville in July of 2009, this DVD is a one-night glimpse into what was a reunion-ish tour that I really wish I’d had a chance at seeing (no shows came anywhere near me). But luckily someone had the sense to capture it (and capture it well, I might add!)

I had seen Jesus Lizard live footage before, but regrettably I have never seen them live. I had a good idea of what to expect, and what is captured on this DVD lives up to my expectations.

CLUB gets right down to business starting with David Yow’s opening joke: “What’s the difference between Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett? . . . About 5 hours!” I immediately burst out in laughter, and the band launched into “Puss.” I should’ve timed it, but it definitely wasn’t long before an opened-shirt Yow was crowd surfing . . . probably within seconds. The shirt didn’t last long thereafter.

The band, despite being out of the touring circuit for at least 10 years or more, were much tighter than one would expect . . . flawless precision. Yow still sounds like a drunk trying to beat his way out of a trunk of a car, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for! If you’ve ever listened to Jesus Lizard and liked them, that’s why you liked them: because they are a talented band with a maniacal frontman, and you didn’t give a fuck if he didn’t sing like a canary!

The set list was pretty chock-full of the shit you wanna hear (in no particular order): “Boilermaker,” “Mouth-breather,” “Blue Shot,” “Then Comes Dudley,” “Gladiator,” “Seasick,” “Monkey Trick,” “Thumbscrews,” “My Own Urine,” and “Dancing Naked Ladies.” The same chaos ensued throughout. Yow baited the audience often and told more jokes I couldn’t really decipher (he got more garbled as the show went on). It was quite a hilarious spectacle.

Yow surprisingly kept his clothes on, but he did pull out his junk (I believe it was during the song “Blockbuster”) much later in the show. Yow is flabby and out of shape, but who cares! The guy is like 50-something, and has some medical issues (he suffered from a collapsed lung when touring with his other band known as Qui) but he still had more stamina and wiles than any of these current youngsters!

There are some extra Easter eggs on the DVD (such as downloadable MP3s of the show and some photographs that are a bit more revealing, to say the least). The only times when there are any mishaps with the filming were when Yow would get lost in the crowd whilst surfing (but you can’t really fault the camera crew for that).

So I would definitely say that CLUB is worth the purchase if you were ever into Jesus Lizard. It is one of the better live DVDs I’ve seen, and it made me wish I was there!

Setlist:
Puss
Seasick
Boilermaker
Gladiator
Destroy Before Reading
Mouth-breather
Blue Shot
Glamorous
Killer McHann
One Evening
Then Comes Dudley
Chrome
Nub
Blockbuster
Monkey Trick
7 vs. 8
Thumbscrews
Fly on the Wall
My Own Urine
Dancing Naked Ladies
Bloody Mary
Wheelchair Epidemic

The Jesus Lizard CLUB DVD was released on August 23 and is available via See Of Sound.