Inferno featured a scorching hot night of rockabilly and psychobilly music, June 3.
While I missed the opening set from local metal band Lock N’ Load, I arrived in time to catch the immortal and brilliant Butch Haller and his Ch
esterfield Ramblers — the rockabilly/ country revamped ’80s hits playing alter ego of London, Ontario psychobilly weirdos The Matadors.
Butch Haller is a “92 year-old man kidnapped by The Matadors and forced to perform all of the hits he wrote before they were stolen by bigger name artists.”
So they played solid and intriguing rockabilly/ twangy country versions of a variety of hits from punk like the Ramones “Sheena is a Punk Rocker,” ’80s hits like Billy Idol’s “ Dancing With Myself,” ’ classics like AC DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long,” ’90’s one hit wonders like the Bloodhound Gang’s “The Bad Touch” and mega pop hits like Brittany Spears’ “Oops I Did It Again” which I thought were much improved by being turned into rockabilly songs.
Ditto for current club smash hits like Lady Gaga's “Bad Romance” which I didn’t recognize, but which sounded hilarious, though out of place and a little creepy sung by a “ 92-year-old.”
Musically, Haller had some impressive guitar playing chops. Vocally, he sounded like a mix of Fred Eaglesmith and Nash the Slash.
He ended with “A song I wrote for my buddy Kevin who died in Korea,” called Stairway to Kevin, which blending Stairway to Heaven and Ghost Riders In The Sky.”
I only caught the last song of Nikki Valentine.
The Matadors were cool. They reminded me a of a slightly more twisted Reverend Horton Heatmixed with AC DC playing rockabilly music, with plenty of high octane Telecaster twanging and manic energy.
I didn’t buy them as the Devil worshipping anarchists they sell themselves as, but they did a “Hell” of a job of playing the Devil’s music and then some. I couldn’t really hear the lyrics over guitar and thumping upright bass.
Frontman Butch Haller … er Hooch Parkins (without the very convincing old man mask and sweatsuit’s jacket) and bedazzled guitar were emblazoned with flames and fit right in with the Inferno theme, not to mention their latest record “Say You Love Satan.”
They had some pretty hard core fans singing along with much of their set.
They ended their set by singing about nymphomaniac zombies and then a cover of Bruce Springsteen “Born To Run” before calling it a night at around 1 a.m.
— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
