Chuck Berry

 THE HOOTENANNY
July 7, 2001 @ Hidden Valley Ranch Irvine, CA 
Pictures and Review By: Scott Wulfesteig    

          With the slew of summer Super shows coming to an end, The Hootenanny was a like a breath of fresh air. What more can you ask for than vintage cars, 10,000 girls doing their best to look like Betty Page, and  7 straight hours of great rock and roll. From rock and roll legends like Chuck Berry, and Dave Edmunds, to the furious, punk cousins like The Cadillac Tramps and Social Distortion. IT was too hot, but the sticky humidity that had hung around for weeks had finally eased up a little for the weekend. I got to the show right as John Doe and ensemble were doing their personal tribute to Huge mega tours  by playing their song To many Bands.  And to a small Degree I have to agree. I was the only person from deadontheweb to cover the show and I was pulling double duty shooting pictures and trying to write some semblance of a review. With three stages it would be impossible to take in all the great bands that were playing that day.  To see the rocking  tunes of The Amazing Crowns and  the trailer park hi jinks of Throw Rag, you have to miss The Tramps and the Supersuckers high-octane sets. So unfortunately I never made it over to the side stage and some really great bands.

            But up on the left stage  the rock and roll tunes of the Blasters were beginning. Good old-fashioned rock and roll was what was going around this free for all and the Blasters were a perfect fit for this bill. After The Blasters quick 30 minute set, Big sandy and his fly right boys were next on the right hand main stage.  This was my first time seeing Big Sandy, and I’m in to the big man. With a well worn acoustic guitar and classic cowboy hat big sandy crooned to all the ladies in the house. The standout song in my mind was “Blackberry wine”  off his Swingin West album. Along with Slide guitar virtuoso Lee Jeffriess, and Sandys right hand man Ashley Kingman  Big Sandy played songs that bordered on swing, with some hill billy, and the flavor of the day rock-a-billy making up the rest. Big Sandy’s mexi cowboy style and his voice is almost reminds me of a Spanish Will Rogers. They are definitely a must see if they come near your little suburb. But with the tramps warming up for the turn, people started to gravitate toward the Left stage.

Click cars for closer look

            The Cadillac Tramps are the infamous punks on this years Hootenanny bill, and they lived up to their rather crass reputation. Gabby and the rest of the Tramps were probably a little uneasy playing this early in the day, but they didn’t let it show.  With their usual punk-ass attitude gabby and the guys were tight pressed with the short 30-minute set given to them for today’s show. But they rapid fired into tons of Tramps classics, while gabby was busy exposing himself to the crowd, and inviting friends up on stage to sing a few with the band. Misfit Mary and Frankie from Boobie Trap came out on stage to help out on a few songs during the evening. It was sorta weird seeing the Tramps outside during the day, and not in a dingy bar about midnight. But it was definitely cool seeing them none the less.

            The Cadillac Tramps are a hard act to follow, And the task was given to  “Stray Cat” Lee Rocker and friends and they did just that. With friend and producer Dave Edmunds warming up the crowd for Ex-Straycat’r Lee Rocker. Dave played some classic old rock and roll tunes before giving up the stage to Lee Rocker and his band.    Playing a great set of Rock-a-billy classics that got the swingers swinging and the singers singing. The crowd loved having anybody from the Stray Cats on stage and it especially showed during a rendition of  “Stray Cats” classic “Stray Cat Strut “  And Lee’s shining jacket came in second place in the Bright Jacket of the Day category. The crowd was starting to get thick now so I started to make my way over to the other stage for the much anticipated set by the Supersuckers.

            When you think of the Supersuckers you might think high octane, western, hillbilly, metal, mayhem! This and more is what the Supersuckers bring to the table, when they take the stage. The sun silhouetted Eddie Spaghetti and the band like western bad man bent on pillaging the town.  And this is what they did with their own blend of country style hardcore Psycho Billy. If you’ve never seen the Supersuckers your in for a great stage performance with a little borrowing from the heavy metal days. Along with great guitar work and a singer that always leaves the girls swooning. One thing you know when you see the supersuckers, your in for a real treat.

          Standup Bass player Jimbo was playing his flaming red bass And slappin his strings like a lunatic. I think if you haven’t seen the reverend you need to go out and confess your sins.  The reverend knows about them all and more. I think they even played a song for the weed smokers in the crowd, covering all the bases, women, liquor, fast cars, and faster women.  After this great set. I need a beer.

            After cooling off with a nice cold beer it was back to the show. The great legendary rock and roller, Chuck Berry was tuning up his equipment. Chuck Berry has been making rock and roll since day one, and it showed in his list of songs he played. He started off playing Johnny B. Good, and kept on going. History making hits like Sweet little Sixteen, all the way to hits like the juvenile My Ding A Ling. With a guitar sound that was so raw, and crunchy, that the punks in the crowd were envious. Showing his years off experience the sly ole’ fox was always in control and always had something to say. He was also the first performer to get some young hotties up and on stage to dance for him. Young and old meeting up and celebrating by listening to good old rock and roll.

            Social Distortion was the headliner of this years Hootenanny. I’ve been lucky the last few years and had the opportunity to see Social Distortion a lot the last few years. So I was pretty beaten down by 7:30 that night, and was ready to get some shots and vamoose out of there. The crowd was getting so crazy that they only gave us about six or seven minutes to try to get a few shots. I did my thing got a few shots and started for parking lot. While heading for the car I heard Social Distortion starting into their set with hits like Ring of Fire, Story of My Life and I’m sure they probably played their crowd favorite Ball and Chain.  As always the hootenanny was the most fun of all the summer super festivals. With a laid back comfortable fell that just makes you yearn for the old days. When you could race someone for pink slips, and cruise the blvd listening to Chuck Berry on your am radio.

- Scott Wulfestieg

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