Life In A Bungalo

Turbonegro/Mondo Generator
Nokia Theater
September 25, 2007

Click for Full Photolog of Turbonegro on Flickr! 

Every three years or so, the gods deliver to us the greatest tour on earth–They give us Turbonegro. Fresh of the US release of their blistering new record “Retox,” our favorite denim demons tore through New York, did our drugs, slept with our husbands and wives, and flew out of here like a bat out of hell.

Mondo Generator took the stage after a short set by some droning band that sounded kinda like Sabbath, but with even less stage presence. Mondo Generator woke the crowd up with a monster set of sludge rock anthems that found singer Nick Oliveri obliterating his Queens of the Stone Age roots and mining for rock all the way back to Kyass. Their music is huge, the vocals raging, and the sound deafening. Mondo Generator grabbed the balls that were castrated off QOTSA five years ago, and they aren’t afraid to let everyone know it. The band peppered the set with a few Queens classics, but focused primarily on the brutally good tunes from their two records.

Turbonegro took the stage to a roar of soccer chants and cries of “ERECTION.” The audience in the half empty hall packed up tight against the stage, begging for Hank and company to molest their ears and steal them into the darkness. The band delivered, pummeling their Turbojugend fans with tracks spanning their post blackface career, focusing pretty hard on early tunes and tracks from “Party Animal.”

“Denim Demon,” “Bad Mongo,” “Sailor Man”–guitarist Euroboy shredded through vintage tracks as if he should have been the one to play on the original records. Hank wasn’t his usual self, speaking sparingly through the set and concentrating on cranking out the rock. “In America, being fat is sexy,” Hank told the crowd before kicking off “Everybody Loves A Chubby Dude” from “Retox. The band played through a full set and two encores in an hour and a half, but seemed to really rush the last half hour as if they were told to get off stage as soon as possible. “Age of Pamparious,” gave way to the fastest version of “Erection” ever. No ass fireworks, no introductions, just punk rock–”Ass Cobra” style. After asking for a few more minutes, the band dragged Oliveri back on stage for a singalong to “Final Warning.”

This was by far the worst New York stage show by TRBNG since they reunited, but it was an amazing musical performance. They crammed so much goodness into their set that it was hard to fault them for the lack of midgets, jokes, and overt gayness. Now let’s hope they get back here in less than three years.

Click for Full Photolog of Turbonegro on Flickr!