Following a reunion tour by the resurgent Sex Pistols over a decade ago, touring incarnations of former '70s punk groups, often with barely an original member left to bastardize the expired band name, have grown increasingly hackneyed throughout the years. Sadly the pseudo-reformation gigs of these once "unruly" groups usually consist of conservative note-for-note greatest-hits sets delivered in timid sub-par fashion, offering no revitalization of the exhausted anthems and making fans wonder why they showed up in the first place. Fortunately, last Thursday's long-anticipated appearance by Aussie proto-punks the Saints was a subversively entertaining exception, mainly due to sole original member Chris Bailey's righteous propensity to piss all over his band's recorded legacy.

Spouting his trademark snot vox and impressively filling Ed Kuepper's spot on guitar, Bailey held full anarchic reign over the evening. He had no problem turning the Saints' most blistering heavy blowout, "Demolition Girl," into a weepy acoustic emo ballad that sloppily descended to a cover of Shirelles' "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" with ad-libbed lyrics about the audience being a bunch of sluts. Other perverse highlights included a meandering 10-minute stoner-rock version of the frenetic "Nights In Venice," which eventually trudged into an intentionally terrible medley of the Doors' "Alabama Song" and T. Rex's "Bang A Gong" before Bailey informed the crowd that he'd play Beatles, Queen and Styx covers at regional bar/eatery Scorchers after the show. For a jerk who flew from Australia directly into Cleveland, Bailey's hometown-related banter was incisively researched. It was somewhat stirring how accurately he tapped into the local Beachland rock schtick by sporting an impeccably-chosen "I Heart Big Black Africa" T-shirt and even dedicating a song to a certain member of that band (who ironically wasn't present).

Aside from all these engaging impromptu shenanigans, the Saints still worked aggressive renditions of early album classics "I'm Stranded," "This Perfect Day" and a show-stopping extended arena rock version of the oddly Skynyrd-like ballad "Messin' With the Kid" (mistakenly introduced by Bailey as "Swing For the Crime"), which seemed to strike a nerve within the post-Indians-playoff melancholy of the crowd. The soulfully infectious chorus kindled a touching display of people putting their arms around each other, swinging beers and cigarette lighters. When the song ended, Bailey exclaimed, "We love you Cleveland ... just kidding!" n

Drive-By Truckers

While the Drive-By Truckers' "The Dirt Underneath" tour was supposedly an acoustic jaunt meant to showcase new material from the forthcoming Brighter Than Creation's Dark, this appearance never came close to acoustic territory. The amps hummed at full volume all night long. But as promised, they did play a handful of new tunes, including the excellent Mike Cooley-penned ditty "One of These Days." The rest of the band's 20-plus song set was made up of tracks from all their albums. They even threw in a cover of Alice Cooper's "Eighteen." As they do on record, the band leaned heavily on Patterson Hood's songs, but co-frontman Cooley shined almost equally as bright, particularly on "Gravity's Gone," "Marry Me" and "Daddy's Cup." Hood's "Lookout Mountain," "Puttin' People on the Moon," "Heathens," "Let There Be Rock," "Tails Facing Up" and "Little Bonnie" all drew equally rapturous applause, as did his tale about the band skipping out on a $380 bar tab at the Grog Shop back in the day.

But it's pretty obvious that while this show sounded a lot like previous Truckers' gigs here, it was far from the same. Co-frontman Jason Isbell left the band earlier this year to pursue a solo career following his divorce from Truckers' bassist Shonna Tucker. His departure wasn't only physical, but also in spirit. The band doesn't play any of the tunes he wrote and sang anymore, so there was a bit of a hole in the set list. Since Hood is the band's proverbial workhorse, his songs were always the Truckers' main attraction anyway. But while Isbell wasn't as prolific with his pen and guitar as Hood, his tunes were often just as good, if not better. While it's unfortunate those songs won't be heard live anymore, fans can take plenty of solace in the fact that the band has more than made up for Isbell's departure with the return of old guitarist/steel pedalist John Neff, as well as the addition of legendary session keyboardist Spooner Oldham. As the everyman feel of the audience could attest - the secret's out. The Truckers are no longer the "best kept secret in underground rock." - Jeremy Willets

Ween

House of Blues
Thursday, October 25

The average selling price on eBay for tickets to Thursday's sold-out Ween show was three times their original cost. It's a safe bet that fans who paid those prices felt like they got their money's worth after Ween finished a relentless three-hour set. To maintain the energy level, the band alternated fast and/or rowdy numbers like country stomper "Booze Me Up" and metal anthem "Doctor Rock" with slower, moodier tunes like "Did You See Me?" and "The Mollusk." For the funky "Voodoo Lady" in the show's first hour, Dean Ween ripped through an appropriately indulgent 1970s guitar solo. Later, some other extended guitar jams became a bit overused and tiresome, but most fans didn't seem to mind. Ween's seemingly infinite stylistic diversity kept the audience engaged, as did its knack for composing catchy, sing-along songs. Fans already even had lyrics down for the few songs from La Cucaracha, released just two days earlier.

Although Ween has made some of rock's all-time weirdest and most imaginatively produced recordings, the band's live shows have historically been disproportionately conventional. And this was another no-frills rock show. A theremin was pulled out for some moments on "Buckingham Green" and some keyboard samples recreated some exotic sounds from songs' recorded versions, but given Ween's proven creativity, it seemed to squander instrumental potential for a wilder show. On disc, the pitch-shifted "Spinal Meningitis (Got Me Down)" is intensely silly and disturbing, but its straitlaced live version was rather innocuous. Conversely, some other songs would have been made more interesting by not parroting their recorded versions as much. One impressive aspect of the show was witnessing how Gene Ween could instantaneously transform his chameleon singing voice, applying minimal to no electronic effects on his vocals. With astounding versatility, personality and on-key tonality, Gene proved himself a rock parallel to cartoon-voice god Mel Blanc. Although the show lacked any real visual style, Gene's sustained intensity as a performer combined with the rest of the band's top-notch musicianship kept the train rolling. - Michael David Toth

Viva La Bands

It was a new moon last Saturday night, bright and brisk. The Agora was comfortably filled with twentysomethings in various states of goth and rock 'n' roll attire. We were all expecting a bill of at least four bands for roughly $40, and it was rumored that Bam himself would be there. What actually occurred was a bill of three bands, no Bam, no CkY and you were still $40 lighter.

Vains of Jenna was a bit lukewarm and forgettable. If you were wondering, yes, you did see these guys on Bam's wedding reality special. A Swedish Motley Crue warm-over, they politely played their set and got off stage. A well put-together sound, VOJ was worth seeing. However, they were the first of three bands that felt like they were just dialing it in. The mighty GWAR took the stage next. They opened with "War Is All We Know," and the thrash metal was loud and fast. Then it ripped into "Bring Back the Bomb." Don Vito made an appearance, from which costumed slaves cut out a baby Bam. Baby Bam hosed down the crowd with red- colored goo, right before "Gore Boar," during which a huge Tyrannosaurus Rex came onstage. Through it all, GWAR looked bored. Utmost professionals, it delivered a stellar show, everyone was covered in stage blood, it sounded awesome, the music was practiced and tight. However, it truly felt like they were bored out of their minds.

There was a good 45 minutes between GWAR and Cradle of Filth. For Cradle of Filth, the drum riser, synth stand and mike stands were all covered in leafy shrubbery, making it a gothic woodland wonderland. CoF came out hard and fast, opening with the crowd favorite "Guilded Cunt." "Dusk And Her Embrace" was a highlight, Dani's screeching vocals and deep, dark growls framed by monstrous drum work. Marijuana smoke wafted up and around all of the black boots and leather pants. "Nymphetamine" led off the second half of the set, and it was easy to get lost in the video vignette that was projected behind the band. CoF wrapped it all up with "Mannequin" and "Midion" which were both killer. Bottom line, CoF played seven songs, and it just felt like they were bored. And without Bam as host, it was just an OK show that woulda been a great show if it had only cost $25. - Jara Anton