Oh man, I have waited sooo long to see these guys!!
I was just a kid when they first hit the American airwaves – Sophomore year of high school if I recall – and never got the chance to see them live before they started getting overlooked and leftout in the world of music.
The Hoodoo Gurus are one of those bands that are hard to define. When they first broke they were certainly lumped into the New Wave category, but their influences are obviously wide ranging. You can hear British Invasion, 70’s Detroit garage rock, surf music, a little twang of Americana/Rockabilly all thrown in the mix, but what comes out the other end is something wholly original and one-of-a-kind.
They announced a tour a couple years back and I was ecstatic! I grabbed tickets the day they went on sale. Then “The Plague” hit… Show postponed. Then show canceled and tickets refunded. Sad days indeed.
But finally, FINALLY the day has arrived and we’re off to one of our previously visited venues, the Great American Music Hall in the sewer on the Bay, San Francisco. (Yes, everything you see in the news about SF is true, sadly.)
We got to the venue a tad bit late and much to our surprise, Hoodoo Gurus was already on stage, doing their thing. NO opening act. D’oh! I was a little bummed out that it appeared that we’d missed a third of their set, but gratefully I was proven wrong. The Gurus poured out a set nearly 2 hours long! It was FANTASTIC!
They played ALL my old favorites, and several gems I’d forgotten about! And a few tunes from their recent album that was just released. It was a great set, top to bottom. And as a special treat, they brought out a couple guys from seminal SF Hippy band, the Flamin’ Groovies for the last couple tunes in the encore.
The band was in fine form, and if you didn’t know of them you’d never guess these guys were in their 60’s or thereabouts. Lots of energy on stage, the playing was great and the vocals were on point, including the harmonies. The Gurus were really on their game last night!
Thanks for a great night fellas! I regret that it took me nearly 4 decades to catch your live show, but it was well worth the wait, and then some!
And thank you Reader, for stopping by!
The Boring Old Man 