| by Pat Hill
The Supersuckers blew into Bozeman Tuesday, October 4, and the self-proclaimed “greatest rock and roll band in the world” had the crowd hopping at the Filling Station. Two local bands got the ball rolling for this Compound Productions show. Legends of Toxic Tuesdays at the Filler, the Tom Cook Band first showcased their locally-grown Americana style. Consisting of guitarist and singer / songwriter Tom Cook, electric guitarist Phil Savannah, bass guitarist Kevin Loustaunau, and drummer Dan Ruggles, the Tom Cook Band is a solid act and always a good time. Cook writes music that touches on the region around us, and if Yellowstone blows its top when I’m still around, I’ll remember Mr. Cook with a smile before the pyroclastic flow hits.
The next band to hit the stage is a relatively new phenomenon on the Bozeman music scene, The Moustache Bandits. This band performs what I can only term raunch and roll on the irreverent side, and the growing crowd at the Filler loved it. The Moustache Bandits, who perform with mustachioed hankerchiefs over their faces, have stage-name handles to boot: “6-Gauge” on the guitar, “Roach” on the bass, “Big Daddy” on the violin, and “Stroke” on the drums. A couple of cowboy-hatted honeys dubbed Puss and Boots strut the stage during the show as well, cooling down the crowd with shots from their six-shooter squirtguns.
A Moustache Bandits performance is much more than music — it’s a stage show with such explicit lyrics that a perusal of Hustler magazine right before the show wouldn’t be too out of order. But this band definitely gets a crowd rolling. “Like we’ve said to many people, we are a great date band,” explained the Moustache Bandits in a classic Facebook post. “If you’ve been seeing a girl for a bit, take her to our show. If she doesn’t laugh or cheer once, then she takes herself too seriously and you’ll know for certain you should stop dating such an uptight person.”
The mood was rollicking and the house was packed fairly tight when The Supersuckers hit the stage with their brand of cowboy-punk rock. Bozeman was among their first stops on a new concert tour around the country for the Seattle-based rockers that many people have heard of but never seen: it was my first Supersuckers show, and I was impressed with the raw energy displayed onstage by Eddie Spaghetti, the frontman with the bass guitar, Dan “Thunder” Bolton and “Metal” Marty Chandler on guitars, and Ron “Rontrose” Heathman on the drums. I was expecting less punk and more cowboy, but the cowboy never surfaced, which was just fine with the audience onhand. I was not disappointed with the high-energy performance, and The Filling Station provided the perfect venue for this somewhat off-color Tuesday evening of musical adventure. |
