Sunday, December 29: 5,6,7,8's @ "Shelter"

   

I've wanted to see this band every time they had come to L.A., but something always prevented me from seeing them. Tonight was going to be a "special members show" with the original bass player Omo as well as a few other special guests. The first set featured all 3 girls wearing 60's go-go outfits. I really liked the way they did Three Cool Cats by the Coasters and changed it to Three Cool Chicks. Next up were the Saturns. They came all came out wearing German helmets. It was so loud I could barely understand that they were playing Midnight To Six by the Pretty Things. The best part about this band was their female bass player. They only played 3 songs! The 2nd set of the 5,6,7,8's featured a costume change with the girls wearing leather, and Eddie from the Mad 3 in drag. I had no idea that Eddie used to play with this band before he started Mad 3. This was a kickass Rock N' Roll set with Eddie playing guitar and Yoshiko doing vocals only. The 3rd set was an all-star jam with 3 guitar players and a piano player named Mabo. This set included Rockin' Enocky switching off from guitar to fiddle to play on Honky Tonk Women. Closing out the show, they did an amusing rendition of Led Zeppelin's Rock And Roll.

   



Tuesday, December 31: The Neatbeats @ "Shelter"

I can't remember the last time I'd been to a show on New Year's Eve. I'd seen the Neatbeats play once before at the first Las Vegas Grind and I was totally amazed at how good these guys are. Deke Dickerson had just come back from his Japan tour and told me to check them out again. The place was packed, 80% of the audience members were young females. As soon as they hit the stage, all these chicks started screaming. The best way to describe the Neatbeats is they sound like the early Beatles Hamburg era. They dress real sharp wearing matching suits. Their set rocked from start to finish. They had everyone dancing the entire set. I even bought their new live CD. Afterwards I got to talk to them and had them autograph my CD, very polite young men.



I'd like to thank Buddy and Misuzu Nakamura for taking me out to these shows. If you ever have the chance to visit Japan and are in they Tokyo area, I recommend you check out their vintage store Rat Motor Beat. They have everything cool from the 50's & 60's.

- Dan Moses


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