REVIEW: Jay Reatard @ Johnny Brenda's, 11/28

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REVIEW: Jay Reatard @ Johnny Brenda's, 11/28

POSTED: Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 2:00 PM

Filed Under: Music Show

"You're all fucking creeps."

It only took a few seconds of the opening song, 'Blood Visions,' to get the shoulder-to-shoulder tight crowd to swell, allowing room for a 10-dude mosh pit at the base of the stage. Forget about pictures this time, folks. I stood at the very edge of said mosh pit, trying in vain to snap a photo without getting elbowed in the ribs. I held my ground pretty well through a few insanely fast songs, but eventually I was hugging a post that supports the balcony to keep from being swept into the sea of flailing limbs and heated aggression. Jay Reatard had only been on stage for 10 minutes at this point.

In that time, though, Reatard probably burned though four songs. His music ' normally jittery and amped ' was played at breakneck speeds. I understand the punk rock mentality of barely taking a breath between songs and playing them at three times their normal tempo. But he peppered his lyrics with insults aimed at the crowd (i.e. "play for you creeps, you're all fucking creeps" during "Waiting for Something.") And after blazing through a set only 35 minutes long, he threw down his flying V guitar and ducked out the side door, all Axl Rose style. No "thank you," no "you rock, Philly," no nothing.

Rude? Yes. Exactly what should be expected from the hairy Memphis punk? Of course, and we wouldn't want him any other way.

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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