Images: Butthole Surfers, 400 Blows August 28, 2011 at the Pearl

“Did you ever think you’d see the Butthole Surfers’ name on a casino marquee?”

I’m paraphrasing here, but this is the gist of what one fan at last Sunday’s concert said to me while waiting to get into the Pearl Theatre at the Palms and honestly, it is a little surreal when I stop and think about it. The humor in the name aside, it is a tad weird and also more than a bit cool that a band with such an uncompromising, off-beat, and experimental approach to music has endured for 30 years now and it’s nice to see that perseverance paying off with large gigs like this one.

While I was a bit too young to experience the Surfer’s fling with the mainstream in the mid-to-late 90s, I did discover them a few years after on the surprisingly well-aged Dumb and Dumber soundtrack (ironically released before their mainstream hit). The Surfers covered this era and more at their show, which was made all the more interesting by the elaborate stage set up, with monitors displaying images from the provocative to the psychedelic. Frontman Gibby Haynes displayed a calm cool on stage, casually strolling from back to front and back again for sax solos while the rest of the band played as perfectly as you’d expect from a group working together for so long.

Opening a show filled with such diehard fans can be a daunting task for any band, but the pros in 400 Blows have been around for nearly 15 years and they certainly didn’t show any signs of nervousness when they took the stage. In particular, frontman Skot Alexander is gifted with quite an impressive stage presence, existing in a constant state of contorted and wiry motion. With just drums, guitar, and vocals (no bass), the band powered through a half hour of some of the heaviest and delightfully weirdest music I’ve heard in quite a while, winning over the crowd that began to trickle in during their set with their enthusiasm and offbeat energy.

-Emily Matview

Photos by Emily Matview | https://www.flickr.com/photos/holdfastnow/

and Tyler Newton | http://500px.com/spottedlens