Friday 18^th July 2008 @ Academy, Bristol

“Hello Bristolians! We owe it all to Bristol!” shouts The Butthole Surfers’ singer, Gibby Haynes, in his gentle American accent. And then all hell breaks loose. Yes: all hell in the form of the most thunderous bass sound you’ve ever heard, booming guitar and crashing drums, above which Haynes is using electronic effects to manipulate his voice, from a high pitched screech to a low, menacing growl.

The sound is truly ground shaking; unsurprising really, as the stage seems crowded with people coming and going playing various instruments and singing. Four women, for example, gather round one mic with the sole task of screaming into it!

As it turns out, the extra folk onstage were the Paul Green School of Rock All Stars – their presence adding fuel and power to the already towering psychedelic beast that is The Butthole Surfers. Heading this surge of unbridled energy is a band line-up that hasn’t played together since 1989. Gibby Haynes, Jeff Pinkus on bass, Paul Leary on guitar and no less than two drummers: Teresa Taylor and King Coffey.

The Butthole Surfers expertly weave their completely outrageous, triumphantly crashing music with beautifully surging, emotionally charged songs in a way only they can do. Against a backdrop of cult films, cartoons and porn, all interweaving and superimposed over one another. There’s almost a carnival atmosphere here, perfectly embodied in the band’s synchronised leg kicks to the dazzling track Sweat Loaf.

The crowd is taken on a rollercoaster; some going with the flow, arms raised high, others clutching the edges of reality for fear they might drop out. And in true style, the show ends in weirdness and chaos with the Paul Green School of Rock All Stars bundling the stage, shouting, singing, play fighting… having the time of their lives.

With The Butthole Surfers, expect strangeness. Expect chaos. But above all, expect to have an excellent time unlike any other.

www.buttholesurfers.com

Katherine Orton