Gypsy Boxer Babies

Now I realize that I am not a music reviewer, nor do I possess great wisdom of what makes a great live show verses a sucky one. BUT I do know that when I hear a band for the first time, have a blast watching and listening to them perform, and then book it to the paraphernalia table to pick up their CD it is qualified as a good thing.

Friday night I ventured into the Deepness of Ellum (you Dallasites know of where I speak) to hit The Gypsy Tea Room (just “the Gypsy” for the utmost hip) with my friend Kristi (shout out inserted here). We were there to see Matt Wertz (wearer of the tight pants) but were in for two opening acts beforehand. The first my friend was excited to see but the second neither of us had ever heard of, Steven Kellogg and the Sixers.

The set started off with a catchy tune playing over the sound system and in place of whatever actual game show or whatever it was hawking they had dubbed in the phrase “The Sixers”. Attention grabbing and with a quirky sense of humor I was already liking them. The band comes up and begins a set of just fun and catchy music. I love it when I can enjoy a live band and understand the songs without having to have studied the liner notes from a CD prior to the concert. They were fun, self depreciating, and good. I should take a moment to comment about the bass/keyboard/keytar player. He was entertaining just to watch. Staring off into a corner of the room at something the rest of us couldn’t see, he smiled and danced and jived his way through every song. It was a treat just to watch him play in his own little world of music amongst the rest of us.

And then the first of two glorious events occurred. Somehow the lead singer began a little ditty that included the words “Sometimes you just have to dance in your underpants”. This was all the invitation that the bass player needed to begin his own personal disrobing down to his skivvies (what a fun word to use). Now this wasn’t a night out with the bachelorettes but more of a comedic interpretation of a strip tease and then there was the dancing. I saw moves reminiscent of the love child of Napoleon Dynamite, MC Hammer, NKOTB, and David Lee Roth with a few jumps thrown in for the true Rock N Roll flavor. It was HILARIOUS. And of course he finished out the concert in his boxers still dancing to his own beat.

Rivaling the “underpants” interpretative dance was the final song which I have to say might have been my favorite part of the entire night. As soon as the beginning notes wafted from the strings of the guitar we were all magically transported to a ballroom and Patrick Swayze was uttering those famous words “Nobody puts Baby in the corner.” Yes, my friends this amazing band ended their time with us by singing “Now I’ve had the time of my life”. It was heartfelt, endearing, and again darn right hilarious. The duet between the lead singer and drummer was touching and I was pretty impressed by the high notes the drummer was hitting. It also struck me as so ironic that I was one of the “older” persons at this concert and EVERYONE was singing along. It’s nice to know that the joys of Dirty Dancing have not been lost on our young folk. To top it all off the lead singer asked us if we wanted to see the final lift which was met with a resounding YES. He stripped off his guitar, took a running start, and leapt into the arms of the boxer clad bass player.

BEST CONCERT EVER.