{"id":877,"date":"2012-03-02T20:00:32","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T20:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/216.71.127.204\/wordpress\/?p=877"},"modified":"2015-10-13T18:29:31","modified_gmt":"2015-10-13T18:29:31","slug":"big-head-todd-and-the-monsters-house-of-blues-houston-tx-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmusicreview.com\/wordpress\/2012\/03\/02\/big-head-todd-and-the-monsters-house-of-blues-houston-tx-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Head Todd and the Monsters – House of Blues – Houston, TX"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Written by Traci Rogers <\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mar 02, 2012 at 08:00 PM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\"Image\"Colorado\u2019s Big Head Todd and the Monsters won a welcome as big as Texas when they played to a packed House of Blues in Houston on Friday, March the second.<\/p>\n

It was almost a year ago that NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center hosted BHTM\u2019s \u201cBlue Sky\u201d wake-up call to the Discovery\u2019s STS-133 astronauts.\u00a0 Appropriately, lead vocalist and guitarist Todd Park Mohr, bassist Rob Squire, keyboardist and slide guitarist Jeremy Lawton and drummer Brian Nevin opened the Friday night show with the same song that gives Space City residents a sense of pride.<\/p>\n

Although difficult to categorize, the jazzy, blues-based Monsters have cultivated a loyal following over their 27 years of performing.\u00a0 From college town venues to stadiums across the globe, their perpetual touring for their fans is \u201cthe reason I\u2019ve not held a real job in 27 years,\u201d Mohr told us after a thunderous applause.<\/p>\n

Mohr and his fellow Monsters played selections from almost every album in their discography, but I was disappointed not to have heard anything from their alter-ego project 100 Years of Robert Johnson, a tribute album by Big Head Blues Club.\u00a0 Understandably, the band did not perform the songs without their famous blues collaborators like B. B. King, Charlie Musselwhite, the late Hubert Sumlin and Texas\u2019 own Ruthie Foster.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, Mohr and his Monsters gave Houston its fair share of the Blues, just as they gave us healthy doses of rhythmic funk, soul, rock and even a little southern rock for us Texans.\u00a0 Most of the tunes were originals, and a handful of covers were performed in original BHTM arrangements like Zeppelin\u2019s \u201cTangerine\u201d and King Floyd\u2019s R&B 1970 hit \u201cGroove Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, Big Head fans were hyped and ready to shout their requests for original tunes once Mohr asked for them.\u00a0 With the winning request, Mohr deviated from the set list and indulged us with \u201cVincent of Jersey\u201d from their 1990 sophomore album Midnight Radio.\u00a0 The 72 second-long prequel to \u201cLeaving Song\u201d showcases Mohr\u2019s early talent for spinning hum-drum observations into song-worthy lyrics.\u00a0 The song\u2019s Camel-smoking, brandy-drinking protagonist longs to find genuine love in a pretentious setting; he trusts that \u201csomeday somebody\u2019s gonna want me cause I\u2019m Vincent of Jersey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other than local bar bands, I have found it rare for national\/global performers to ask audiences for requests.\u00a0 But BHTM is the exception, THE fan-friendly band.\u00a0 In fact, they\u2019ve been known to take Internet requests a few days prior to a show.<\/p>\n

With all of his experience, Mohr\u2019s writing only improves with time.\u00a0 Friday night, I noticed a particular theme that Mohr often weaves within his lyrics:\u00a0 Empowered and confident women. The opening song, \u201cBlue Sky\u201d was \u201cinspired by Eileen Collins, who was the female commander of the [2011 NASA Discovery] shuttle.\u00a0 I just found her story so inspirational.\u00a0 It kind of gave me a leaping-off point,\u201d he told www.space.com<\/span><\/u><\/a> last year.\u00a0 Three years prior to the Mission Control performance,\u00a0\u00a0 Mohr had given Hillary Clinton permission to use \u201cBlue Sky\u201d as the soundtrack for her 2008 Democratic, Presidential primary campaign.<\/p>\n

\"Image\"Half way through the show, the gritty, \u201cHer Own Kind of Woman\u201d from 2008\u2019s\u00a0 All the Love You Need album struck a familiar note with anyone, man or woman, who has sworn \u201cThis time I ain\u2019t gonna let it get me down\u201d after a painful break-up.\u00a0 Mohr\u2019s bending guitar riffs sound like the liberation that comes with the reclaiming of self after having shed a burdensome relationship.\u00a0 I was impressed with the live version of the song when Mohr and Lawton improvised by replacing the studio horn section with a conversation between their slide and steel guitars.<\/p>\n

The Monsters also gave us a sneak peek into their unreleased \u201cBlack Bee Hive\u201d single, a tribute to the late Amy Winehouse.\u00a0 Whether one considered Winehouse a confident or powerless woman is a matter of opinion.\u00a0 But all might agree that Winehouse\u2019s raw talent and genuine feistiness were put to rest too early like the other famous members of the Dead at 27 Club.\u00a0 She \u201cwalked away and the sun went down, singing that soul song when no one\u2019s around,\u201d Mohr sang over a guitar\u2019s lament.<\/p>\n

Toward the end of Friday night\u2019s concert, my guest and I noticed many of the early 30s\u2014mid 40s females of my age group finally get what we wanted most:\u00a0 \u201cBittersweet.\u201d\u00a0 Once Mohr picked the first riff of the band\u2019s signature song, I felt the ear-drum piercing cries of women all around me.\u00a0 The ambiguity reflected in the \u201cBittersweet\u201d lyrics and music might be what makes the song so appealing.\u00a0 If I am focused only on the music, I can\u2019t pinpoint the emotion I feel.\u00a0 When I read the lyrics, I cannot determine if he will remain in the relationship.\u00a0 Or, is he simply making observations of a relationship that has moved beyond the initial stages of belly butterflies and heavy heartbeats?<\/p>\n

I met Mike Canavard and Jeanne Schweer, an attractive couple who were bumpin and grindin\u2019 to a raw and blistering \u201cDirty Juice\u201d from 2004\u2019s Crimes of Passion.\u00a0 An electrician by trade, Canavard reminisced at how the music he witnessed at\u00a0 Grateful Dead concerts is comparable to BHTM\u2019s sound.\u00a0 \u201cTheir pattern is just like The Dead; they start slow, sultry, smooth before they elevate it into a party!\u00a0 The first two times I saw them was at Astroworld.\u00a0 You remember that place?\u00a0 Hahahaha!\u201d I will take his word for it.\u00a0 I can\u2019t seem to find such comparisons in patterns.<\/p>\n

Having been a long-time fan of BHTM, the March 2 show was my first time to see them live. Surprisingly, I noticed a younger generation in attendance as well.\u00a0 The late teens\u2014twenty something crowds were singing along and air-boxing to the funky \u201cMuhammad Ali\u201d from 2010\u2019s Rocksteady.\u00a0 Right on cue, the audience helped Mohr with the chorus:\u00a0 \u201cFloat like a butterfly . . . Sting like a bee.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rocksteady is proof enough that the bluesy rockers have paid their dues.\u00a0 After more than a quarter of a century of recording and performing, the band earned its right to experiment with groovy, Caribbean and R&B styles.\u00a0 While a diverse album, the Monsters never forsake their original sound.\u00a0 A music enthusiast can easily decipher Mohr\u2019s riffs within the first few measures of a song, just as one can distinguish Clapton\u2019s Slow Hand from B. B. King\u2019s Lucille.\u00a0 Also, bassist Rob Squires\u2019 playing proves thick and decadent on Rocksteady.\u00a0 In keeping with the album\u2019s 1970s grooves, Squires surprised us with what sounded like the musical soundtracks to skin flicks of the era.\u00a0\u00a0 Once the band played the album\u2019s title cut, I caught myself scanning the walls and ceilings for a disco ball under which I could roller skate.\u00a0 The songs they played from Rocksteady on Friday night were made of Solid Gold!<\/p>\n

\"Image\"Once the band gave thanks and said their good-byes to us, the audience refused to let them go.\u00a0\u00a0 BHTM\u2019s encore set is what amazed me most about them.\u00a0 They performed a set of cover songs in their own musical arrangements.\u00a0 It may not have been until the middle of a song that I realized, for example, the \u201cSexy and I Know It\u201d identity.\u00a0 Instead of performing the song in a Pop style, the guys played it in a Deep South blues fashion.\u00a0 The band also performed a clever medley of the Rolling Stone\u2019s \u201cStray Cat Blues\u201d mixed with Warren Zevon\u2019s \u201cWerewolves of London.\u201d\u00a0 They left the crowd thirsty and wanting more when they closed the evening with the hard-driving \u201cBlack Betty.\u201d\u00a0 Unlike Leadbelly\u2019s original a cappella version, Mohr added his own Delta blues twist.\u00a0 His slurring guitar riffs had me wondering if he had been fishing on the Mississippi River and fileting mudcats only moments prior to the show.<\/p>\n

Throughout \u201cBlack Betty,\u201d Mohr traded mischievous glances with drummer Brian Nevin who may have left Houston with a threadbare kit.\u00a0 The workhorse drummer and occasional harmony singer is a commanding presence behind and beside the big-headed guy.<\/p>\n

Audiences know when performers are or are not enjoying themselves on stage, and what audiences know often have a profound influence upon a band\u2019s performance.\u00a0 The Monsters never have cause to worry because they do what they love most:\u00a0 pleasing their fans with their genuine talents and synergy.<\/p>\n

Never miss an opportunity to see these master musicians live!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written by Traci Rogers Mar 02, 2012 at 08:00 PM Colorado\u2019s Big Head Todd and the Monsters won a welcome as big as Texas when they played to a packed House of Blues in Houston on Friday, March the second. It was almost a year ago that NASA\u2019s Johnson Space Center hosted BHTM\u2019s \u201cBlue Sky\u201d… <\/p>\n

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