URGE OVERKILL: LIVE (REVIEW BY WESLEY WILLIS)
October 25th 2006 11:29
Because I’m sitting here, smoking stale tobacco and drinking premix gin & tonics instead of attending the Urge Overkill gig at the Zoo tonight, I am sad. The only thing that cheers me up when I’m in a funk like this is the music of Wesley Willis, probably the most important artist of the ‘90s.
Wesley Willis was a 6'6", 350 lb, schizophrenic, black man from Chicago who recorded over 50 albums with his trusty Technics KN1200 keyboard, before his untimely death from leukemia complications in 2003. Wesley redefined the parameters of punk rock, taking it to a lo-fi repetitious extreme that set him apart from nearly every other performer; and was one of the few true postmodernists who didn't have his head shoved all the way up his ass (it helps that he was completely out of his tree, but what genius isn't?). Wesley Willis’s art is dismissed by most as novelty crap, but I think he added an important dash of purity and even satire to the music industry, (but that’s the subject for another post, or possibly a thesis).
Apart from performing creative acts of bestiality on obscure animals and stuff that he read out of the newspaper, the subject matter for many Wesley Willis songs were reviews of concerts by some of his favourite bands.
In lieu of a review for the Urge Overkill concert that I am currently missing, here are the lyrics to Wesley’s song “Urge Overkill”:
I couldn’t have put it better myself. Change a few details, and that’s a perfect review for the Brisbane show (which is probably starting right about now *rolls dry cigarette, cries in g&t*). Trust Wesley to trump the critics at their own game.
***
IMAGES
Wesley Willis*
(photo used under fair dealing)
* images on this page were taken from the following Wikipedia page:
Wesley Willis
I feel like Wesley looks right now
Apart from performing creative acts of bestiality on obscure animals and stuff that he read out of the newspaper, the subject matter for many Wesley Willis songs were reviews of concerts by some of his favourite bands.
In lieu of a review for the Urge Overkill concert that I am currently missing, here are the lyrics to Wesley’s song “Urge Overkill”:
"Urge Overkill"
This band played at the Aragon Ballroom
About two thousand people watched the show
The show was terrific
The concert was a jam
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
The band played it on
The show was great
The rock ‘n’ roll was perfect
The rock ‘n’ roll was excellent
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
After the concert a lot of people met the band
The show was the greatest
The jam was out of this world
The show was going on
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Rock over London
Rock on Chicago
Remco: It’s the go-ahead-and-get-it-store
This band played at the Aragon Ballroom
About two thousand people watched the show
The show was terrific
The concert was a jam
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
The band played it on
The show was great
The rock ‘n’ roll was perfect
The rock ‘n’ roll was excellent
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
After the concert a lot of people met the band
The show was the greatest
The jam was out of this world
The show was going on
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Urge Overkill
Rock over London
Rock on Chicago
Remco: It’s the go-ahead-and-get-it-store
I couldn’t have put it better myself. Change a few details, and that’s a perfect review for the Brisbane show (which is probably starting right about now *rolls dry cigarette, cries in g&t*). Trust Wesley to trump the critics at their own game.
***
IMAGES
Wesley Willis*
(photo used under fair dealing)
* images on this page were taken from the following Wikipedia page:
Wesley Willis
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