In Act Two, The Gories Are Frisky, Fun And Loud As Ever
By Kim Bellware in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 25, 2010 9:10PM
In an interview earlier this year, The Gories rhythm guitarist and singer Dan Kroha made no bones about the lack of polish on the band’s two-decades-in-the-making reunion. In fact, The Gories had admitted to not even practicing leading up to the reunion shows and upcoming European tour. According to fans who attended the Friday installment of the Detroit garage rockers’ sold out two night engagement at the Empty Bottle, the rough edges really showed; that’s saying something for a band who based their whole vibe on being crude and raw. Saturday night The Gories played loud enough to blow your clothes off, made three chords sound like a party and were still, in garage rock parlance, “rough around the edges.” In other words, they were damn near perfect.
Part of what made The Gories so incendiary during the ‘80s and ‘90s was the volatile nature of their sets. Reunion shows run the risk of being total flops if the energy and excitement from the band’s heyday fails to channel to the present, and The Gories wisely sidestepped that trap by not changing a thing about how they play and sound. True to their nature, the band was imperfectly tuned, skittish and full of swagger for Saturday’s show. With a ramshackle sound that belies some true talent, The Gories crashed and careened through a set that was equal parts Gories originals and garage rock classics.
The set blasted off with the original, “Hey Hey We’re The Gories,” before tumbling into a lengthy exploration of songs from the Rough Trade Rock and Roll compilation. The band mates' focus was tightly fixed on one another, particularly Mick Collins and Kroha who searched each other for clues on how to navigate through the songs that they admittedly had long since forgotten how to play. Drummer Peggy O’Neill wore shades throughout the whole show, pounding out rhythms with a cool transcendence from behind her ultra-minimal kit. Grittier than Mo Tucker and more explosive than fellow Detroiter Meg White, O’Neill’s drum work was raw, simple and filled the whole room.
Meanwhile, Collins and Kroha engaged in round after round of competing and complementing riffs, taking turns and switching up vocal duty throughout the night to help out Collins who was fighting some sort of cold. As the set progressed, the audience had a glimpse into how the band famously fought with one another with the men bantering (good-naturedly) over how songs should be played or joshing with the audience about one of the band mates "only taking 20 years to learn to play that right." They were intimate though less aggressive versions of the exchanges that fueled the rough and raw passion of The Gories way back when; apparently, the feelings haven't cooled much over time.
Though the band re-started several songs when it became too obvious that one or more members had forgotten how to play or sing a verse, the hiccups were worth it just to see The Gories react to one another on stage. At one point, Kroha ribbed Collins with a long-standing grudge over losing vocal duty of a Doctor Ross cover the band liked to perform. In Collins' estimation, Kroha recalled, he didn't sound "horny enough" when he sang. With Collins vocally strained, Kroha took full advantage of his second chance, singing and swiveling his hips with all the sexiness and danger that elicited so much pearl clutching and fan waving during the first wave of garage rock in the '60s.
In what we suspect was the better of the two shows, Saturday's run was not only a second chance for the band but for the fans who weren't around for The Gories first run a few decades back. Lucky for them (and us) we had the chance to see them the best way possible: completely unchanged.