Blues for Godzilla

It's been a busy week for shows, and I'm behind here goes the first of three reviews.

On Tuesday, I headed over to Tivoli de Helling to see the BellRays, who are best described as “rock 'n' soul”, or by analogy as Aretha Franklin fronting the MC5. More on them later. First off were the Flash Express, who were trying their best to actually be the MC5 – fast, loud, angry garage rock with with howling vocals. They did a pretty decent job of imitation, though, with a lot of energy, fun songs, and a frontman who did a very good impression of Rob Tyner, down to the scream-howls at certain points. They were fairly unremarkable, though, as they did little but ape the MC5, even if they did that well. They still managed to be a fun opening band.

As the BellRays took the stage, I found myself in the presence of the largest Afro I'd ever seen in person. Lisa Kekaula, the owner of that Afro, is what makes the BellRays so unique: they're an energetic garage rock bend fronted by a large black woman with an enormous Afro, with the sort of vocal style you'd expect from that description: soulful and powerful. She also has a simply great voice. She was of course the star of the night, from the kick-off with a simple “we are the BellRays...” to the last moments of the show. Her voice works rather well in combination with the rest of the band's sound – it's not what you'd normally expect with gritty, bluesy MC5 rock, but the combined effect is extremely enjoyable. Basically, their set was raucous and incredibly fun, even when they slowed down to play some more funk-laced numbers, and it put me in a very good mood for bartending later that night.