By Monica Alvarez
Six years away have apparently done nothing to mellow the Butthole Surfers, or to make the cult-inspiring Texans more cohesive.
Their Sunset Junction makeup show on Saturday night at the Echoplex (the venue that rescued a couple other notables from the doomed festival’s lineup) was more of an acid flashback than an actual acid trip. Gibby Haynes and crew played “Pepper” and “Who Was in My Room Last Night” along with an array of other catalog entries that were recognizable for about two bars before merely serving as a a playground for the band’s effects pedals and digital set-up.
It was a short, strange trip. The sold-out show, which created a line that snaked down Glendale Boulevard and incited walk-ups to offer $50 a pop for tickets, created a bizarre delirium that was part nostalgia, part artificial stimulants and part sonic mind trip. The latter ingredient was abetted by the the “gorror” (gory-horror) projections that blanketed the band and the screens behind them.
Meanwhile, the reunion was commemorated in many ways — some in the crowd indulged in a smattering of psychedelics, and fans could also shell out for a limited-edition (87 prints) poster designed by Two Rabbits Studios. Others simply grooved to the music, like the “veteran” fan in the mini-skirt and the cowboy hat who humped the rails that guarded the soundboard throughout.
L.A.’s 400 Blows celebrated the end of a hiatus too, opening with an explosive set featuring music from their first album in six years, “Sickness and Health.”
Photos by Debi Del Grande
