I wrote this in November 2024, just now getting to post it
I hang out at online music forums where people seem to go to a dozen (and often dozens) of concerts a year. I maybe make three or four but I also know there are two extremes and while I am not a frequent flier, I have probably seen more live performances than most people.
There are the limitations of time and money among other factors, and to say that’s something new would be false. They have always been there. In any case, the bands I have seen more than once number not much more than a handful- Social Distortion, Bad Religion, Bob Dylan, Nick Cave, Brian Setzer, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Beck - possibly more but not many more.
At the top of the list by a mile is Reverend Horton Heat. I have seen the following opening acts for him - ska punk band Voodoo Glow Skulls, the rockabilly/psychobilly Bottletones, neotraditional country act BR-549, rockabilly/swing/punk band Amazing (Royal) Crowns, blues/outlaw country one man band Scott H Biram and Jerry Lee Lewis acolyte piano player Jason D Williams It’s a testament to where Horton Heat fits in that he can be dropped anywhere in the timeline to those Sam Phillips Sun Records days to the 90s/00s Epitaph/ Timebomb / Hellcat Records Warped Tour scene.
It also probably means that his “road warrior” schedule is so intense that there doesn’t seem to be a night he and band aren’t playing somewhere. That Road Warrior mindset might be why he got called out for complaining online during Covid but surely he had some opposition to not doing what he did night after night.
It also explains why the third from the last concert I saw was also Horton Heat. The last time I saw him he was touring the new at that time album (March 2023) Roots of the Rev (volume 1). He ostensibly is still touring that release in 2024 he released a single that pairs him with Jason D Williams and Dale Watson.
Heat has had Williams opening for him on this tour, and the night before the show I saw, the two had just played at the legendary Surf Ballroom- sight of the last concert of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and the Big Bopper. (There is also a live from Houston album released in August 2023 that is technically the newest album. As a RYM reviewer writes- it’s from a 2009 performance opening for Motörhead. Released by Cleopatra Records which means it will likely be repackaged and re-released repeatedly and they have a reputation for dubious quality. This particular album doesn’t sound bad but it certainly isn’t an outstanding piece either).
So Heat is still touring the Roots of the Rev Vol. 1. He says there is a new album coming in 2025. Three songs get played off the new album including Twenty Flight Rock- the song that introduced longtime bassist Jimbo Wallace to Heat and promoter him to replace the previous band member when Heat heard Jimbo played it. Heat and Jimbo have been together for 30 years now and their playful fighting/banter is a lot of the enjoyment of seeing Heat - Jane’s Addiction and Garth Brooks serial killer conspiracy jokes along the way. It’s a real testament that Heat has so much banter and though it was only last year I saw them -didn’t feel repetitive.
They did “Rockin Bones” and talked about their relationship with early regional rockabilly star Ronnie Dawson as well as Willie Nelson’s “Three Days”. Not on the Roots album, the band closed the night as they have at least in recent years with a cover of Motörhead’s “Ace of Spades”
Heat's setlist has been pretty static with the setlist a “Best Of “. What it tells you is how long a career Heat has and how he’s managed to really put together an amazing set of singles. His first seven albums are represented here spanning from his buzzworthy Sub Pop albums to the Swing revival to the speedy punk sounds of 2000s Spend A Night in the Box and 2002s Lucky Seven. He then skips the two mid 2000s albums to play off his two more recent albums for punk label Victory- 2014s Rev and 2018s Whole New Life.
So, no deep cuts but a nice primer and reminder of a strong 30+ recorded career. Musically though, Heat shreds on guitar. The Motörhead influence comes out live. Jimbo’s standup bass is always a thing to behold. The banter with crowd and each other is fantastic too. He’s been doing it awhile (almost 40 years now) but are seemingly better every time out.
Setlist: Big Sky/Big Little Baby Five-O Ford Let Me Teach You How to Eat Three Days Psychobilly Freakout Big Red Rocket of Love Twenty Flight Rock Jimbo Song In Your Wildest Dreams It's Martini Time Whole New Life 400 Bucks Galaxy 500
Encore: Rockin Bones Bales of Cocaine Ace of Spades
