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Tiger Army

TIGER ARMY
ORANGE BLOSSOM SPECIAL
GRAVEYARD FARMERS
DRAGSTRIP DEMONS
March 15 @ The Galaxy Theatre, Santa Ana, CA
Review By: Scott Harding
Pictures By: Scott Harding

Before I start out this review I want to give a shout out to the 2 punks with the misfit shirts, front and center for all the bands that played, thanks for keeping a great spot for me to take pictures! Anyway, Rumble at the Galaxy is what this show is called. It’s a new thing they have been doing over at The Galaxy and I have to say I’m pretty impressed by the bands they have been having. And I couldn’t believe that this show was sold out and it was a Thursday night! And its always cool to see the people that come and check out the shows. Tatts, hot chicks and more tats…ya know. It’s almost like a mini Hootenanny show. This particular show was one I was very excited to check out because I haven’t checked out The Graveyard Farmers and Tiger Army yet and I dig their music.

So the first band up is The Drag Strip Demons. I never heard of these guys before. I was pretty interested in seeing them because while I was backstage interviewing Tiger Army I saw couple of the guys in this band getting ready for the show by smearing blood all over their faces and applying on movie type scars while wearing Misfits shirts. I can never get enough horror rock so this was pretty cool. So they come out on stage and they have candelabras on each side of the stage so set the mood. The band starts out with an intro and jams out some good hard licks but the singer is still back stage till the second song, coming out fashionably late. I liked their music. It’s kinda like Manic Hispanic meets the misfits and a stand up bass. Hard, fast, loud…very nice. And its always fun to watch a band that puts on a good stage show all smeared in blood. So at the end of the set the singer takes off back stage and the rest jams out a killer outro. Good band…good set.

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Now it was time for The Grave Yard Farmers. If you haven’t heard the tunes fo the Grave Yard Farmers I can just describe them as a tight rock band ala The Cramps. So if you like The Cramps as much as I do then this band is for you. The singer came out sporting a long paten leather trench coat. Man that fucker must have been hot as hell in that because after a few songs he took it off and I saw that he had like 3 layers of clothes on under it. And this guy sang just as freaky as Lux and put on a similar stage dance only as Lux can. But don’t get em wrong, they are not a Cramps ripoff band because their music is a bit different and they play in a different groove.

With a mix of Rockabilly, Blues, & Punk The Grave Yard Farmers throw in a twist of demented horror in to create the horrific sounds only they can bring to the table. Over all I was very happy to see them live after listening to their album for so long. They lived up to all that I got from listening to the songs at home. Full of energy and surprises, The Grave Yard Farmers are totally worth checking out. Check out their website (a very cool site) and check out some mp3s of their songs and get to know them!

Orange Blossom Special was the next band to take the stage. Although they are a good band I have to say that they weren’t really they type of music that went along with the rest of the line up. They were a good mix of punk and Primus like rock. The songs all had great happy melodic vocals and thumping bass riffs from the bassman. Like I said, a good band but they were a bit too happy sounding for this show. I think they are worth seeing if you get a chance. But for me it was time to grab another beer before Tiger Army came on.

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I had no idea how big Tiger Army has been getting till I looked around the galaxy and saw all these people so stoked to check them out. The place was fucking packed solid! Iwas fortunate enough to interview Nick and Geoff before the show and they were telling me that at first they didn’t know how well the show was going to go tonight as far as turnout. Not only that just a few days before this show, Geoff’s stand up bass was kicked in and tonight was the first night using a borrowed bass, so I think they were a bit nervous. But that didn’t show when they took the stage. Coming out in full force with a horrorific intro, Tiger Army shocked the crowed with their incredible force they give off live! Now for the people that have no idea who Tiger Army is let me just say this, they've got the psychobilly chops and the grooves, including the stand-up bass, but it's all punk from there, including drive and power. The music has more in common with slam dancing than any other dance form, but hey, if you're quick and daring enough to try, go ahead and dance to this wickedly vicious, ten-times-fast brand of punk-a-billy. And then when you think that they are just all about the hard sound they shock ya with a clean old style rockabilly riff. So you take all this and add some dark horror rock lyrics and howling back up vocals you have the force to be reckoned with…Tiger Army! I think they played just about everything off their debut Hell Cat release “Tiger Army” plus a few new ones that plain kicked ass. Tiger Army Never Dies!

So there you have it kids, all in all this was by far one of the best shows I have been to this year. All the bands played very well and the crowd was very respectful of that. Check out the next time The Galaxy throws another Rumble At The Galaxy show…you wont be disappointed.

WATCH THE FULL SHOW!!!
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