photo: Bob Steshetz |
Setzer has put out two solo albums (The Devil Always Collects, Gotta Have the Rumble) since Stray Cats released the solid studio effort 40 in 2019. A Stray Cats live album, Rocked This Town: From LA to London, arrived the following year. Bassist/vocalist Lee Rocker and drummer/backing vocalist Slim Jim Phantom also had new solo album projects appear during the intervening period.
In the first of two Costa Mesa shows, Stray Cats appropriately
took the stage to Eddie Cochran’s “C’mon Everybody.” The band opened with a
rousing “Too Hip, Gotta Go,” from 1983’s US gold-certified album Rant ‘n’
Rave with the Stray Cats. It was the first of many examples of Setzer’s
dexterous work on his Gretsch guitars. Lee Rocker vigorously thumped away on a
cowhide painted upright bass, among three he would use. Phantom did cool drumstick
twirls.
Before the twangy, sinister vibe of “Runaway Boys,” Setzer
noted how it was the first song they ever did. For the uninitiated, the tune was
an international hit single (UK #9, 1980) before America took notice.
A snappy “Three Time’s a Charm” off 40, fit
well alongside the older material. The OC crowd sang along loudly to a fun “Stray
Cat Strut,” the group’s biggest domestic hit (US #3, 1981). The latter is its most
streamed song on Spotify, currently at 37 million, and was recently featured in
the Hulu series “The Great” starring Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult.photo: Bob Steshetz
All three guys gathered at a microphone stand to sing
the opening line of Gene Vincent’s “Be-Bop-a-Lula,” which figures prominently
in the jaunty Vincent/Cochran tribute “Gene and Eddie.” Setzer’s lightning
guitar solo here was a wonder.
Rocker, a Laguna Beach resident, said he was pleased to
play a hometown gig before taking lead vocal duties on the song he penned for 40,
“When Nothing’s Going Right.” And Phantom, recalling Stray Cats’ early days, said
the Pacific Amphitheatre was a better place than NYC’s once infamous, tiny and
dingy music club CBGB (talk about an understatement!).
Other standouts came fast and furious in the set’s back half, including a fiery “(She’s) Sexy+17,” where Rocker and Phantom sang the main chorus; the hyperkinetic “Blast Off!” with its humorous outer space lyrics; a cover of Cochran’s “Summertime Blues” (dedicated to Fifties/Sixties guitar pioneer Duane Eddy, who died last April); Setzer’s low croon and the group harmonies on the effusive “Bring it Back Again” and signature hit “Rock This Town,” where Setzer ventured to the sides of the stage as he did throughout the evening.
On select songs, Rocker dragged his heavy bass around to
be in closer proximity to his bandmates. Stray Cats finished the show with a
thunderous “Rumble in Brighton” and the lean “Built for Speed” – a title that
still describes the musicians too.
Tour dates:
8/5 Red Butte Garden, Salt Lake City
8/6 Mission Ballroom, Denver
8/8 Bluestem Center for the Arts Amphitheater, Moorhead,
MN
8/9 Ledge Amphitheater, Waite Park, MN
8/10 Hard Rock Casino Northern Indiana, Gary, IN
8/12 Rose Music Center at the Heights, Huber Heights,
OH
8/13 Artpark Amphitheater, Lewiston, NY
8/15 Rooftop at Pier 17, New York, NY
8/16 Ocean Casino Resort, Atlantic City, NJ
8/17 Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater, Bridgeport, CT
straycats.com
Photos from Pacific Amphitheatre Night 2 by Bob Steshetz/Bob by Request, courtesy Surfdog Records.
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