Then as if another inspired turn of a jukebox over to the 1950s country standard “He’ll Have to Go,” before his own throbbing tune of existential anguish, as he described it, “Born Too Late.”
Perhaps because he was in Washington, he pulled out his version of Lead Belly’s “Bourgeois Blues,” the bluesman’s screed on the District of Columbia, as true today as it was in 1937. It was Falco’s 1978 performance of that tune that ended with a chainsawed guitar, that first got Chilton interested in working with him. In tribute to the lauded singer of Big Star (and the Box Tops before it), he played Chiton’s “Bangkok,” which included a bit of the Ramones’ “Chinese Rock” to extend the Asian theme.
The stylish Falco had to go the length of the barroom to get to and from the backstage for the encore. And as the band coaxed him out (wearing a mask) with an instrumental “Ghost Riders in the Sky” mixed with a little “Telstar,” he closed with his rave up “Girl After Girl.”
It seemed like a longer than usual set than the band had been doing and the pleasure was extended further with a tasty opening instrumental set from Monterosso, the Italian guitarist now transplanted to Memphis and his band of fellow Italians, bassist Guiseppe Sangirardi and drummer Walter Brunetti.
Obviously fans clearly steeped in classic rock ’n’ roll the trio provided stinging versions of tunes from “Pipeline” to “Rumble,” to the Shadows, the trio mixed in with their own worthy originals from an album called “Take It Away.”
The evening began with a strong showing from Des Demonas, the acclaimed D.C. punk band that was performing for some reason under the alias Fes Femonas (perhaps a contractual thing so not to conflict with other gigs coming up?).
At any rate it was the same aces, grounding a punk drive with garage-rock tones – thanks to the Farfisa colors from Paul Vivari. Mostly the band is led by the guitar of Mark Cisneros, who also played for Kid Congo & the Pink Monkey Birds (Congo also played for The Cramps, who shared more than a couple bills with Falco back in the day).
What sets the band apart further even more are the arresting lead vocals of Jacky Cougar Abok, a 6-foot-5 Kenyan whose blunt chants gain power on repetition and commands more attention when he suddenly gives rapid-fire lyrics, as on their convincing “The South Will Never Rise Again.”
It made for a solid night top to bottom as it married mid-Atlantic punk to the weirdo Southern gothic rockabilly of Falco.
The setlist for Tav Falco’s Panther Burns was:
- “Sleepwalk”
- “About Marie Laveau”
- “Sway”
- “Have I the Right?”
- “He’ll Have to Go”
- “Born Too Late”
- “Me and My Chauffeur Blues”
- “Bourgeois Blues”
- “Strange (Libertango)”
- “Treat Me Nice”
- “Go Home (Throw That Blade Away)”
- “The Ballad of Rue de la Lune”
- “Bangkok”
- “Cuban Rebel Girl”
- “Master of Chaos”
- “Ghost Riders in the Sky” / “Telstar”
- “Girl After Girl”