Live Review: Toadies @ Black Cat, 4/27/14

It's been 20 years since the release of Rubberneck, and the gents of Toadies decided (quite rightly so) to join the album-centric show bandwagon and tour it up good and proper. And so it was that it was time to party like it was 1994 at the Black Cat on Sunday night. 

The Toadies, impressively, packed the heck out of the Black Cat, which on a Sunday night is no minor feat. Playing their seminal swampy, grunge rock masterpiece in its entirety, the Texans turned the clock back and then some. The crowd, already warmed up good and proper by an excellent Supersuckers set, let it rip with abandon as the songs were unleashed. For their part, the songs sounded much as they do on record, which means gritty and snarling and wonderfully loud. 

The crowd ate it up, and I can't deny feeling tingly with nostalgia when they launched into teenage favorite "Possum Kingdom." After steamrolling through Rubberneck, it was time for another batch of Toadies goodness, including a pretty dang good cover of Blondie's "Heart Of Glass." All told, it was a night of good, sweaty, rock and fucking roll. 

As one of their tees proudly proclaims, Toadies fucking rock. And rock they did. Those shirts don't lie. For those of us not lucky enough to see the band tour this record years ago, it was a hell of a lucky second chance.

[photo by Megan Petty]

[posted 4.30.14]