A few songs later, someone in the audience got their hands on some toilet paper, which quickly joined the beer as a favored projectile. Kids were stage-diving, and one fellow crowd-surfed all around the venue with his phone held at arm's length, videotaping his own face. I bet that video is fun.
"This song is coming out on the new Bad News Bears movie, starring Tony Danza," Alexander quipped before the band launched into "Bad Kids," one of Black Lips' most popular tracks. The crowd sang along in a fervor; the airborne beer increased in quantity.
Black Lips left the stage after "Bad Kids," then returned a few minutes later for an encore. "Like clockwork!" Saint Pé laughed. "You'd think we planned it!" The band then launched into "Ain't No Deal," the first of two encore songs the band said it'd be playing.
"Sorry for all the technical difficulties," Swilley said upon that song's conclusion. "That's just how we roll. We can't have nice things." Again, the crowd didn't care about that stuff.
"This song is for our favorite St. Louisan, Chuck Berry," Alexander said before the final song. "I still have yet to do a good duck walk. Still have yet to pee in the bathroom, too." The crowd laughed, and the Black Lips played a final song for the night, a cover of Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business."
As I walked into the night at the show's conclusion, I overheard a kid talking to his friends. "Someone spilled beer on the front of me and on the back of me," he said with a grin. In most circumstances, that would be a complaint. Here, it was exclaimed with jubilation.
"Yeah, that was absurd," his female friend replied, "but really cool."
Rock & roll, is what it was. Pure, uncut rock & roll.
Continue to page three for the setlist.
