D.R.I. at Fitzgeralds
Welcome to the Trash Zone!
On Friday the 13th D.R.I. (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles) rose the dead and may have even contributed to a few deaths under the full moon. Houston hometown heroes, and pioneers of the “crossover” genre, D.R.I. are incredibly well known all over the world, but you could certainly tell they were home when they tore the roof off one of the longest running venues in town, Fitzgeralds.
There was good line-up of bands both upstairs and down, generally falling under the umbrella of thrash, hardcore, and punk, there was even a “Celtic Punk Band”, called The Dead Rabbits who have been making a name for themselves recently in Houston. The main event, of course, took place upstairs with a constant onslaught of chaos provided by A.S.S., Toxic Steel, and Legion who are no strangers to touring with D.R.I.. Legion were loud, confident, and veteran-like. They are young fellas, but play with a charisma similar to that of their predecessors. Legion is pretty generic when it comes to blurring the lines of metal and punk, complete with thrashy guitar riffs, and unanimous, boisterous chants that are synonymous with the skate-rock sound. Legion really emphasized the style set forth by thrash icons D.R.I.. All and all, this writer enjoyed them, but felt almost overwhelmed by the crowd as this was merely the calm before the storm. There was an audience member who claimed that it was a bit much for an opening band he had never heard of and elected to save every ounce of energy and patience for the headliners, which as it turns out, was not a bad idea.
D.R.I., who released their first E.P., Dirty Rotten, in 1982, timidly took the stage shortly after 11 pm. The bass player, Herald Oimoen strolled in first, enjoying a warm response and a cold Lone Star, tall boy. The Guitar player and co-founder Spike Cassidy came out shortly after to do some final mic and monitor checks with Herald. It took them a little while to get the levels where they wanted. When Spike tested his monitor levels for his guitar, he repeatedly asked for more volume. After several failed attempts, Spike smiled, shrugged, and said, “Gimme all ya’ got”. It was then that the fellas were about to unleash the fury, but not before making a quick announcement; Their Drummer, Rob Rampy, was unable to perform this evening due to a sudden illness so they had a stand-in who had never played with them until earlier that day. D.R.I.‘s choppy brand of thrash is filled with quick breaks, sudden change-ups, and constant cymbal catching. Given the circumstances, the ill-rehearsed, young drummer did a stellar job of literally barely missing a beat. He had some help from the guys, particularly Spike, but still nailed an overwhelming amount of the material, and added some new flavor while still capturing the quintessential pauses that are a signature part of their “crossover” sound.
Immediately after the drummer announcement, singer. Kurt Brecht ran out from the side stage to an uproar that shook the old wooden building. D.R.I. then tore into their set opening with”Who am I” which resulted in one of the scariest mosh pits that this writer has ever witnessed. The madness inside the circle pit was like a human hurricane! It ejected audience members like airborne fighter pilots in a bailout left and right. Our camp barely avoided the nearly inescapable pit and found a place in which the entire stage could be seen comfortably next to the bathrooms! At any given moment there were 5-10 people in the air, most of which reached the stage. The band was very down to earth and allowed the crowd to get up, hug, high five, and sing along, however, the staff was sure to promptly escort anyone who out wore their welcome. Mic stands were getting knocked over, and at first the band almost seemed intimidated, but they quickly eased back into dealing with their anticipated raucous audience. Most of the crowd was as courteous as possible (given the circumstances) and after their five seconds of fame, dove back into the mob.
The band plowed through about an hour and a half’s worth of material including crowd-pleasers such as “Syringes in the Sand” and “Probation.” Throughout the night, D.R.I. consistently maintained that it was a joy to be home, but a trip to be playing Fitzgeralds again. The overall sound quality was killer, especially Cassidy’s guitar tone that sliced through their thunderous rhythm section like a buzz saw. There were several times in which a chant of those three familiar letters could be heard; especially after the duration of the main set. It only took the guys about two minutes to come back out and blast into their crowd demanded an encore.
If you like punk, hardcore, or metal at all, D.R.I. is a must-see. Their brand of Thrash which is among a genre in itself, “crossover”, .has inspired hundreds of bands. D.R.I. may not quite be a household name, but they are true pioneers and were right there with likes of many huge acts such as early Metallica, Suicidal Tendencies, Corrosion of Conformity, Slayer, and many more during the 80s and 90s. By the way, no deaths occurred on this exciting, full-mooned, Friday 13th… at least not during the performance.
