Reverend Horton Heat @ Le National

Dallas, Texas-based psychobilly trio The Reverend Horton Heat were recently back in Montreal and back in my jukebox! With 9 albums and 25 years of greasy, grimy, guitar lickin', bad-ass upright bass whippin', and dirty drum kickin' music under their belt, The Reverend Horton Heat kept the crowd rockin'.

The Reverend (aka Jim Heath) on guitar and vocals was a tall stack of a man in his fine 1950's vintage suit and shirt and looked straight out of a James Dean movie. Now in his early 50s, The Reverend's voice was still as clean as a whistle. He belted out tunes such as "400 Bucks" and "Nurture My Pig" from my favorite-to-date Sub Pop released 1993 RHH album, The Full-Custom Gospel Sounds of the Reverend Horton Heat, with such precise guitar accompaniment it made me shake.

To The Reverend's left, Jimbo Wallace on upright bass walked the dog on that dog house like no other. Not to mention his straight-driving stage face with one eyebrow raised to the heavens as he hammered licks with cool confidence. Never talking directly into his vintage microphone, Jimbo took control over the stage in other ways.  Right from the beginning, Jimbo was a crowd favorite as he banged that driving bass rhythm with one hand, but even more so when we heard, as an introduction to "Jimbo Song," of his ass-kicking alley fight that sent the Reverend to the hospital during a cocktail party some odd years ago. Jimbo just smiled and nodded.

On the back beat was the new (since 2006) long-haired, baseball cap wearin' band member Paul "Paulie" Simmons who kept that fast paced psychobilly beat going. He did not say a word, nor did he show any signs of stopping. He just kept that shinny silver kit rockin'.

Together this Texan trio performed a tight 1.5 hour set of dirty, beer drinkin', heart breakin', and sweet-sounding love-makin' American sub-culture rockabilly classics. Most astonishing was the brotherly affection and rapport these two front men, and original members The Reverend and Jimbo, had with one another. Jimbo would slowly drop to the ground whilst banging on the bass. The crowd followed his every move. The Reverend then stepped on the bass and continued to play his rock n' roll riffs without a scratch. The crowd was roaring! Another crowd favorite was when Jimbo played with one hand on the bass and another on The Reverends Gibson beauty as The Reverend played with one hand on the bass. This was performed without interruption to the classic track "Yeah, Right" from the 1994 album Liquor in the Front. I tell you, if you had your eyes closed you would have never known - except for the wailing audience screams, of course.

Towards the end of the show, The Reverend Horton Heat had gone through their set list. It was time for requests. The crowd was yelling their favorites from left and right. All you could see were smiles on the band's faces. This Montreal crowd sure knew their stuff. "Baddest of the Bad," "Cruisin' For a Bruisin'," "Wiggle Stick," "Bales of Cocaine," "It's Martini Time," and many more were added to the bill that night. The band ended off the night with their psychobilly cult classic "Psychobilly Freakout," which left the crowd doing a psychobilly shuffle on the dance floor. Needless to say, I left Le National popping my feet. It's been a while since I have heard some good ol' rockabilly boogie and I only hope for more. For now listen to my favorite The Reverend Horton Heat track "Big Little Baby" on YouTube here.

-Sugarface Nene hosts Beat The World on Saturdays from 12-2pm