The Queers w/ The Heart Attacks, The Riptides – Meridian – Houston, TX January 31, 2007
Concert Reviews
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Written by Samuel Barker
Jan 31, 2007 at 08:00 PM
ImageMy earliest memory of a complete day is my 4th birthday. Not sure why, but it always stuck out in my mind. When I turned 4, Joe Queer started his band, The Queers. For 25 years, the band has made countless recordings, their labels have come and gone and the line-up has changed at about the same rate as an apartment turns over residents.

Despite all of this, Joe and the Queers are moving along steadily. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the band. Life gets in the way sometimes and you forget about those treasured nights of being a teenager and rocking out to Love Songs for the Mentally Retarded. You forget about those nights at Fitzgerald’s seeing all the great old Lookout! Records bands playing together.

While many of those bands are long gone, the Queers keep moving on. Supporting the upcoming release of their latest album, Munki Brain, the Queers made their way into the Meridian with The Riptides and The Heart Attacks.

I had forgotten the sheer insanity of the Queers live show. After a quick hello, Joe began playing and it was another 15 minutes and 7 songs before he broke to talk again. Every song ended into the beginning of the next song. It was an awesome display from the band and they covered it all. From Hey Mom It’s Me to Houston, We Have A Problem and everything between, Joe and the band brought it on this night.

It was an absolute blast to relive 25 years of punk rock in one night’s time. It made me regret all the time the band has been here in the past 8 years and I hadn’t made it out to see them.

Before The Queers, The Heart Attacks played. These guys took me back a bit. They had a look, all of these guys looked like someone you’d see patrolling the Hollywood Strip back in 1989. They had the rock licks down, but they felt very created. Lars Frederickson of Rancid produced their album for Hellcat, which makes you think, since Tim Armstrong owns the label. Perhaps they’re trying to create something cool here.

In the end, they played a nice set, but they looked like they were creating a vibe with their look and swagger more than with their music. That’s not really my cup of tea.

The Riptides opened and I was thankful they drove down from Canada to rock out this tour. These guys touched on poppy punk rock and threw in a few old school hardcore moments. The vocalist even joined the Queers on stage. These guys played a great warm up set and were a lot of fun.