Bumpin' Uglies, Lavish Green and Hit By A Semi

When attending shows that I’m going to write about, I find it’s always better to keep the drinking mellow. So I start off with one drink, thinking I’ll be able to stay really focused on the first band, be buzzed for the second, extra happy by the third band and finally, ready to go home by the end of the night. But when the first band starts off late, the whole cycle can be thrown out of whack. So anyway, the Uglies’ CD release party kicked off a bit late with the band Hit by a Semi, a local group including ex-members of Bean Fight. As the band’s kick-ass punk music began filter out into the bar, the place really started to fill up.

Lavish Green was brought out next, performing a stop-over gig of sorts, en-route from Tahoe to Santa Barbara. This band had a really tight, fairly complex musical composition, featuring a funky, punk sound pivoting around catchy tunes about women and their breasts. Most impressively, between each song the band members did an interesting thing that looked like an intricate game of musical chairs. Each time the music stopped, most members would get up and trade places. Then when the music started again, they would each be in a different position — the drummer would be the singer, the bassist would be the drummer, etc., exemplifying the members’ multi-talented abilities.

Bumpin’ Uglies were up to their normal shenanigans on this night. They entered fully decked out in their evening attire, which utilized large animal suits, such as a pink bunny costume and a giant yellow chicken, who was out selling CDs. Of course, they brought their smoke machine and a handful of other gimmicks, the sort of props that are making them one of the best live performance bands around. Hot tunes, such as "Fish and Chips," off their new CD were dished up live on stage, while the crowd was served pancakes off the stage by the band’s giant chicken-associate, who threw the hotcakes out to the hungry crowd. Matchbooks and porn magazines were also thrown to the audience. The moshing monsters of the audience fought their way through the dance floor while the bouncers kept the crowd from having too good of a time.

Even though, a week later, I am still trying to rid my memory of the disturbing images of fuzzy childhood creatures handing out girlie mags, all in all it was a fantastic and memorable evening. So go out and buy the Bumpin’ Uglies new CD, Ridiculosis, and check out their Web site at bumpinuglies.com.

- Cricket Mulleague
- photos by Lloyd Hererra

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