“Give Me Rhythm”—Cowboy Mouth, Dumpstaphunk Take on DC

Recommended beverage to go with this show:
Dogfish Head Raison D'etre, available at the downstairs bar,
because it's positively nutty.

On my first trip to New Orleans, a little incident toward the end of Jazz Fest weekend had me hopping to the medic tent. As I lay there, dehydrated and in agony from a sprained ankle, I heard the sounds of Cowboy Mouth coming from a nearby stage. They had so much positive energy and I found myself clapping and singing along, happily, while simultaneously seething in pain. It was an amazing confluence of emotion.

On Friday night, at the 9:30 Club, Cowboy Mouth played a 2-hour + set with unwavering intensity. They have had their own confluence of emotions over the past couple of years, as several of them had lost their houses to Hurricane Katrina and they continue touring to help rebuild their lives. But there was no talk of that at this show. Fred, the drummer/singer/motivational speaker who takes center stage, made it all about the audience. He even climbed up to the balcony at one point to tell a section of people they needed to get more involved.

“Give me rhythm” says Fred repeatedly throughout the show, signaling the audience to clap to the beat. At times, he has them jumping, singing, dancing, waving hands in the air, and just letting go—but rarely is anyone allowed to be an idle spectator. This is a full-on rock show and your participation is required. “Are you with me?!!”

Fred periodically gets to rest a little as his guitarist takes on lead vocals but even then he pounds the drums and makes insanely funny faces as he gives 200 percent. The band’s new material fits in quite well with their earlier stuff. A particularly amusing new song from their 2006 album, Voodoo Shoppe, is about having to dump a girl because she didn’t know who [The Clash’s] Joe Strummer was.

Cowboy Mouth live is a true experience that no studio album can capture, in part because of the raw energy and extended mixes all led by wild man Fred. He also skillfully mixes in a little Professor Longhair (a full-on rock version of “Going to New Orleans”), Mississippi blues, and…a Springsteen cover for fun.

In case after a few drinks you forget who you came to see, Fred leads several chants of “The name of the band is” with the audience yelling back the reply. And, Fred will tell ya if you’re not working hard enough…

Opening the show was Ivan Neville’s five-piece band Dumpstaphunk that absolutely would’ve torn the roof off the place if more people were paying attention. Their blend of funk and soul was positively infectious and an all-out jam. Ivan Neville on vocals and Hammond organ was joined by not one, but two bass players, including his brother Ian of Funky Meters fame. It’s definitely worth checking these bad boys out!

Ahh, New Orleans Jazz Fest 2007, I am ready!
ClubD will be on the scene there the weekend of April 28^th.