Follow the Train, The Naked Gods and the Wehutty Mud-Puppies @ Black Cat March 9.
You’ve heard it from me before and you’ll hear it from me again, but every now and then we’re lucky enough to catch a show that is really way too good to be playing in a little Boone bar. And once again, good thing I’m here to tell you about it, offering high-fives all around.Louisville, Kentucky’s Follow the Train, fresh off a very successful slot opening for fellow Kentuckians My Morning Jacket, made quite the stop at Black Cat March 9th. They’re the first band offhand that has played on The Orange Peel stage one night and Black Cat the next, but they were quite excited about the change of atmosphere.
“Big shows like (The Orange Peel) are nice,” said lead singer Dennis Sheridan, “but little places like this are awesome. These people don’t know it, but they’re about to get their faces melted off.”
Correct he was, as the crowd had their faces melted in three quite distinctive styles throughout the evening. Starting the evening off was Boone bluegrass favorites The Wehutty Mudpuppies, whose old-timey foot-stomping jangle had the crowd jumping and hollering, and there would have been dust a’flying if Black Cat didn’t have a cement floor. Between the beat of the stand-up bass and the sweet, sweet ramble of the banjo and fiddle, these boys brought the thunder, looking and sounding as though they stepped straight off some 1880’s front porch.
Following them were rising Boone heroes The Naked Gods, coming fresh off the release of their first album (check out this month’s Idiot reviews for more on that). Whenever these boys play, they put on a fantastic show, and they’ve definitely been working on their chops in anticipation of the album. Think Neil Young’s Crazyhorse, North Carolina-fied with just a little bit of drunken sing-along by the campfire mixed in. The crowd just got bigger and louder as the Gods blistered their way through yet another fantastic set.
As Follow the Train set up their equipment, with several shouts of “Melt my face!” originating from behind and near the bar, a little buzz started running through the crowd. Whispers of “These guys just opened up for My Morning Jacket?” and “They were at the Orange Peel and now they’re here?” spread through the restaurant creating quite the sense of anticipation and, as promised, the boys didn’t disappoint.
I like to consider myself somewhat of an expert on bearded rock, and Follow the Train guitarist Mike Sabo can easily match My Morning Jacket’s lead singer Jim James beard wise, and he’s not far off on the rock part. For around an hour, we were witness to some of the most intense and well-done rock to ever flow through the Boone bar scene. Through all the echoes and reverb and general face-melting, the group worked in a cover of Patrick Swayze’s “She’s Like the Wind” in a majestic 80’s sing-along made better by 100 drunk Boonies, compensating for the fact that Dennis was under the weather and, although he was valiantly giving it every ounce of effort he had, was losing his voice rather quickly.
As fantastic as this show was, both Follow the Train and The Naked Gods are young bands just hitting their stride, and we definitely look forward to all kinds of face melting on down the line.
