Show Review

Blues Explosion rocked one hell of a show at San Diego’s best New Years Eve party. If you’re a Blues Explosion fan, then this was most definitely the place to be to kick off 2005. It seemed as if Jon Spencer and his band mates were possessed and determined to bring in the New Year rocking as hard as possible.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the new Blue Explosion album that just dropped last November, get yourself a copy immediately. Damage is the name of the new record that features some of the most tightly produced Blues Explosion tracks ever. You’ll also find killer collaborations with DJ Shadow and Chuck D. One of the best tracks on Damage, “Crunchy” was produced by superstar DJ Dan the Automator-- also known as Nathaniel Merriweather, one of the two front men of Handsome Boy Modeling School.

Hot off the release of Damage, Blues Explosion made their way to San Diego’s 4th and B Nightclub on their nationwide tour for a special New Year’s party. The opening line-up was impressive as well. The night kicked off with Bad Credit and Reeve Oliver—two hugely up-and-coming and frighteningly talented bands. Each of the openers rocked solid sets to warm things up for Dresden Dolls, the two-piece experimental alterno band out of Boston who’ve been receiving substantial airplay lately with their hit, “Coin Operated Boy.” The Dolls rocked an interesting cover of U2’s “New Years Day” for the occasion.

Around 11:30 Blues Explosion took to the stage and wasted no time getting into their hard rocking distorted out blues funk and hip-hop influenced trademark sound. For fans that haven’t experienced Blues Explosion live, the band typically rocks through their set without any breaks between their songs. They basically rock one long extended non-stop set of tracks. Their New Years set was a rock ass kicking mish-mosh of old Blues Explosion classics like “Sweat” and rolled on into brand spanking new material from Damage. The band took a break to countdown the final seconds of 2004 with the crowd and then wasted no time digging right back into their set. Before we knew it they rocked out their last couple tracks and left the crowd amped from their high octane show.