Mike the Knife
Mike the Knife
Follow

Bad Case of Cramps

Posted over 4 years ago
By Grabthar’s hammer! I just realized that the Cramps are not playing their usual Halloween show in San Francisco this year. I don’t know exactly how many times the cadaverous Lux Interior, the dead-sexy Poison Ivy and cohorts have rattled the Warfield or Fillmore on October 31st with their patented brand of shockabilly, but it won’t feel as much like All Hallows’ Eve without them in town.Of course, I have some freaky alternatives in mind. (Insert evil chuckle here.) Still, there’s nothing quite so bone-chilling as the Cramps’ patented, cranked-up live performances of “Human Fly” and “Goo Goo Muck” in a fear-fraught concert hall jammed with sweat-soaked, substance-abusing vampires, demons and ghouls. (Not to mention other gravest hits and horrific specialties from their repertoire, such as “I Was a Teenage Werewolf” and “The Creature from the Black Leather Lagoon.”) I wonder what crypt the band will be kicking on Wednesday night, because it ain’t in my neighborhood.Ah, well. To get a little taste in their absence, here’s a particularly intense live version of “Human Fly,” videoed at a concert for the inmates of Napa State Mental Hospital in California, circa 1984. Note the audience participation.Good times. Good times…
0

Comments (24)

  1. satisfiedmind2
    satisfiedmind2 says I wonder which higher up at the hospital thought it might be a good idea to have the Cramps play there?
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  2. Misstee
    Misstee says Way to go with the 'Galaxy Quest' reference!
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  3. kat3260
    kat3260 says I've never been to a show on Halloween :/ Seems wrong since concertgoing is my favorite pastime and Halloween is my favorite holiday...perhaps next year...
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  4. Lizziegreeneyes
    Lizziegreeneyes says wow... that's just... WOW ;)
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  5. nicki
    nicki says Eek...
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  6. Spike
    Spike says Wow, that's crazy. I wish I had been there. I remember in the 1950's living in Marin Country and the word "Napa" meant insane asylum. Once I was in the back seat of a car driving in Napa County, and the road went through the middle of a beautiful grove of enormous trees and green lawns and set-back residential buildings, and there scattered outdoors were all the crazy-looking people! Since then I've driven there again unwittingly, and it was no longer an insane asylum. It must have been relocated or Reaganized or something.
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  7. Joxley
    Joxley says I wish some crazies had been at Arcade Fire at the weekend...I wonder if the Scissor Sisters are doing another "fancy dress show":http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/galleries/gallery-23360625-detail/The+Scissor+Sisters+Halloween+concert/pos-1-image/gallery.do this year?
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  8. Cody B
    Cody B says Naaah, you made that up. It is just too good to be true.
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  9. Dale
    Dale says Mmm, _savage_. In the best possible way, of course.
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  10. fairportfan
    fairportfan says The one time i saw the Cramps live, i was really there because some friends (Dash Rip Rock) were opening, at the Masquerade in Atlanta. (That was the time i met Kevn Kinney back in the DRR dressing room...). Lux literally chopped a hole in the stage with the base of the mike stand.
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  11. Sturgell
    Sturgell says the cramps are one of the bands that helped me get through high school.
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  12. Augusts1
    Augusts1 says Now that IS the perfect venue for them. That's one of my fave songs of theirs as well. Oh the insanity of the '80s & I'm sure all the administrators were severely coked up to make a decision like that, hehe!
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  13. Mike the Knife
    Mike the Knife says satisfiedmind2: I hope they gave that guy a raise. ;-) Misstee: Can't go wrong with the "...Quest." kat3260: As long as the venue encourages costumes and the band is macabre enough, I say go for it! Lizziegreeneyes: Terse, but true... nicki: Also terse, but true. Spike: Crazy? Did you say crazy? In this day and age, we prefer to say, "Wow, that's mentally challenged." I think there's still an asylum in Napa, and that's where the Cramps played. As for the "where" of it, how should I know? Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Joxley: I read your post and feel your pain on that one. Now, the Scissor Sisters are an ideal Halloween show to see! Cody B: I know. Isn't that something else? Dale: As Tarzan would say, "Umgawa!" fairportfan: And that was Lux on a sedate night... Sturgell: Really? And your after-school job was in a mortuary, right? Augusts1: Adminstrators at a mental hospital on drugs? I've never heard of such a thing. I'm sure that's quite impossible. I mean, who, with access to an entire closet filled with prescription drugs, would ever even think of abusing them? Hmmm?
    Permalink posted 10/29/2007
  14. QueenofHell
    QueenofHell says That looks like so much fun!!! Halloweeen Heaven!?
    Permalink posted 10/30/2007
  15. Sturgell
    Sturgell says I'm still a goo goo muck.
    Permalink posted 10/30/2007
  16. Girlcrawl
    Girlcrawl says Sheer Cramp-madness; love it!
    Permalink posted 10/30/2007
  17. Mike the Knife
    Mike the Knife says QueenofHelloween?!? Invoking Heaven? Horrors! Me too, Sturgell. Midol for everyone, Girlcrawl!
    Permalink posted 10/30/2007
  18. goodmusiconly
    goodmusiconly says Dang ... you'll have to find another way to "tear it up":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCQ4QLFl01g!
    Permalink posted 10/30/2007
  19. Mike the Knife
    Mike the Knife says I'll say, Erin. But, like I said, there are some demented plans in the works...
    Permalink posted 10/30/2007
  20. soulrocket
    soulrocket says that tampa show is a classic. i watched the cramps in london years ago performing on halloween and it was a blast. one of the best bands in the history of modern music. where is Goo Goo Muc that hasnt posted here yet?
    Permalink posted 10/31/2007
  21. Mike the Knife
    Mike the Knife says No idea where the Muck is. Only know that it's out there...
    Permalink posted 11/02/2007
  22. soulrocket
    soulrocket says he is a busy man. i went to tampa myself instead of visiting napa. wrong bus line again...
    Permalink posted 11/02/2007
  23. Anna
    Anna says It's one of my dreams to see The Cramps live on a Halloween night. Sigh.
    Permalink posted 11/05/2007
  24. Mike the Knife
    Mike the Knife says Anna: Don't you mean...dead or alive? (Insert evil chuckle here.)
    Permalink posted 11/07/2007

Comment on this Post

Login using email and password below.

Forgot Password?

OR login using Facebook Connect

Connect

Don't have an account?
Join MOG. It's Free!

 

© 2006-2012 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved