Concert Review: The Schizophonics – Whammy Bar May 23, 2019

San Diego trio The Schizophonics brought their frenzied brand of garage rock to Auckland’s Whammy Bar, kicking off their first tour of New Zealand.

The core of the band is guitarist/vocalist Pat Beers and his wife, drummer, Lety. For this tour, they are joined by bass player Blake Lindquist.

But once on stage, the real focus is firmly on Pat who turns into a virtual whirling dervish as he performs…reminding me of the Tasmanian Devil from old Warner Brothers cartoons.

You can check out The 13^th Floor’s Video Session with the band to get an idea of what Beers’ act is all about, but really, there’s nothing like being in a roomful of like-minded music fans watching this man work the stage, turning his shirt into a sweat-soaked rag.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Pat embodies a combination of Jimi Hendrix, James Brown, Pete Townshend and Little Richard as he leaps, dances, runs, twirls and does the splits. And mind you, this isn’t just during one song…Pat Beers gives it up for the full hour-plus show.

Meanwhile Lety and Blake hold everything together, giving Pat the foundation he needs to do what he does.

Last night’s show began with a screaming version of the MC5’s Black To Comm, before the band dove into their own catalogue, turning in frenetic versions of tunes such as Battle Line, Like A Mummy  and Nine Miles.

After Lety commented on her new-found love of meat pies and sausage rolls, Pat introduced  a new tune…”our prog-rock song”…People In The Sky, which will appear on their next album.

Then it was into a few tracks from 2017’s Land Of The Living before staging an impromptu dance competition, but not before Lety noted that Pat’s insane stage moves had caused the sole to come off of one of his shoes.

After a little over an hour, the band launched into closing number Something’s Gotta Give, which then turned into a medley of Jerry Lee Lewis’ Whole Lotta Shakin’ and Little Richard’s Jenny Jenny. By then, Pat was off the stage and in with the crowd urging everyone in the room to literally get down.

And then it was over. It almost seemed cruel to demand an encore, as Pat Beers, soaked with sweat, but have been totally spent.

This felt like a once-in-lifetime performance…but incredibly, the band will be back a Whammy tonight to do it all over again, before heading deep into New Zealand. What better way to spend a Friday night…go and see this band!

Marty Duda

Click on any image to view a photo gallery by Trevor Villers:

The Schizophonics set list:

1. Black To Comm
2. Steely Eyed Lady
3. Battle Line
4. Like A Mummy
5. Nine Miles
6. People In The Sky
7. Streets Of Heaven And Hell
8. Red Planet
9. World Of Our Own
10. Electric
11. Unknown
12. Move
13. Something’s Gotta Give
14. Whole Lotta Shakin’/Jenny Jenny