How Was The Show - Gay Witch Abortion, Seawhores at 22nd Avenue Station (Double Deuce)

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Gay Witch Abortion CD Release with Seawhores at 22nd Avenue Station (Double Deuce) on 12/30/08

Gay Witch Abortion - Photo by Nick Wosika

One question seemed to pop up over and over before The Seawhores took the stage Tuesday night: “How is this going to work?” I heard it no less than five times in the minutes leading up the show’s late start. It was a fair question. The 22^nd Avenue Station, known affectionately as “The Double Deuce”, is a lot of things but it has never seemed like a viable venue in which to hold a CD release (or any other type of show). This myth would be dispelled as the night wore on. In case you don’t know, The Double Deuce is a bar/strip club located in NE Minneapolis. The bar is in front, the strip club in back and it eclipses even the 7^th Street Entry for general seediness. In other words, how could this not work?

The stage at The Double Deuce seems more fit for a karaoke battle than having bands play. It’s general shape - I estimate it to be about thirty feet long and no more than four feet deep - and plug-and-play PA system created a bit of a challenge for the bands loading in and out and setting up but it was not the nightmare many had anticipated and the sound was actually pretty crisp.

I dunno if you could call it sold out but it was extremely packed up front and deserted in back—surely a first for the establishment. The Seawhores didn’t disappoint from the outset and set the tone for the night as well. Adam Marx was wearing a shirt reading “HIV Positive Attitude” and with the weird video game-like noises at the intro that slowly gave way to a howl that was like a mix of The Jesus Lizard, a forgotten band from the early-80s Bay Area metal scene and sludge rock in the Prong vein, it was clear this night would be anything goes.

To be honest, I’m unsure if I would listen to The Seawhores in recorded form on a regular basis but it makes for sweet release when viewed live. Some of the songs had a definite end, some just fizzled out into dissonant echoes and some blended into the next song but it was all compelling. At times I felt like this is what it must have been like to be in the audience while Husker Du was recording Land Speed Record. The melodies were in there somewhere, they were just going to make you work for them. I’ve also never seen or heard a band reference both Metallica and Devo in the same 2 ½ minute span. Charles Gehr’s cymbals kept falling over while he hammered away on his drum kit and watching them crammed on that tiny stage could make a person want to go home and write a double-album’s-worth of noisy, beautifully imperfect songs overnight.

It was amusing to glance to the back every so often during the show and see a half-naked woman half-heartedly dancing on the stage in back. There were at least 200 people crammed up front, more than half of them were male and nobody cared about what was happening in the back room at all. I’m not sure there was even one person back there.

Adam Marx of Seawhores - Photo by Nick Wosika

The Seawhores made you forget that you were at a place that was primarily a strip club, but Gay Witch Abortion (Shawn Walker on drums and Jesse Bottomley on guitar) sort of made you forget what city you were in. The duo’s assault was immediate and unflinching. New Wave of British Metal riffs played fast and loud—really loud—with thunderous drumming behind them. There were lyrics, but they were unintelligible and really, sort of unnecessary, but they added a little something, depth and some personality, I suppose.

It doesn’t seem like you can do much with just guitar, voice and drums but Jack and Meg White seem to make work, The Black Keys make it work in a much different way and Gay Witch Abortion in a different way still. They were celebrating the release of their new album, Maverick, and that title might already be the understatement of 2009, unless it’s just an underhanded shot at John McCain.

Is GWA for everyone? No, not at all but they’re one of those bands who seem like they inspire fierce loyalty in the people who do like them. Nobody is ever going to say “Yeah, they’re ok.”, they’re a love-it-or-hate-it band and I, for one, loved every second it. This was the musical version of Dadaism or outsider art, often beautiful because of or despite it’s ugliness, unrefined, not for the easily offended or those with heart trouble. As one of the songs came to a close with Bottomley making police siren noises with his guitar, it occurred to me that a lot of people might not “get it” and that’s a shame, because Gay Witch Abortion are not to be missed.

Location Info: 22nd Avenue Station (Double Deuce)
Artist Info: Gay Witch Abortion, Seawhores

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