Showing posts with label TILMAN THOMAS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TILMAN THOMAS. Show all posts

Monday, April 27, 2020

ROCK AND ROLL EVEN THEIR MOTHERS HATED




  • Tilman Thomas were a bunch of guys trying for some odd hard rock, Black sabbath /Alice Cooper fusion and, from what I remember , did their own shows from an east country VFW hall. They had original tunes, none of them memorable, all-riff and glutted with  repetitive chord changes that sounded like a garage band of average amateur skill levels trying to add the illusion of prog-rock density to their flat-lined barrage. They were not horrible musicians--some showed chops, others did what they could--they were just persistently and insistently mediocre, the kind of aggravating experience when you see a performer who are convinced of their genius. lead singer was a fellow named Rico X, who wore blouses that looked like they were bought while drunk in a consignment show. he had long curly hair, was flamboyant the way only off-key sociopaths can manage, and a voice that was yet another karaoke imitation of Ian Gillian’s degendered vibrato. The band's tagline was "mindless rock and roll”. It was good to see at least one band live up to a promise they made. the hall was one of those large rooms you grew up in watching your parents and friends get drunk in, on the 4th of July especially. there was a low rise stage, less impressive than the ones that were standard issue in high school gymnasiums all over the country, amps, lighting and PA were abstract, post-cubist renditions of electricity being put to use to underscore a forthcoming storm of mung with sparks and static. the crowd dug it the most, though, everyone dressed up in some variation of groupie baby doll eleganza or long-haired biker trash self-loathing. it was a wonderful scene