Punkaroos, Dave Bone & the Troublemakers, Route 23
Flamingo Cantina, July 12
At the 11th hour of a languorous Wednesday night, Sixth Street showed all the signs decried by the Black Cat's bloody banner: "Dead Music Capital of the World." Inside the Flamingo Cantina, 26 bad haircuts bobbed up and down to the last number of Route 23's sweaty set, "Dead Redneck." Evoking just that, the local trio stomped hard enough that when the lights and PA came up immediately after the song had ended, the segue into a hoarmoaning Nirvana track said it all: punk rock summer night. Ripped T-shirts, ripped shorts, and a few ripped people washing back the dust and heat with Lone Star. Same old Austin. "Howse everybody doing?" asked the weary looking guitarist heading up Dave Bone & the Troublemakers. "Let's get some rock & roll going here." Launching into a swaggering, post-R&B "20th-Century Boy" groove, the trio drove straight into the heart of Motor City. "Thanks for coming out on a Wednesday night," waved the bassist to a crowd that had swelled to 35 or so. "Yeah, for those of us that work three jobs," coughed the guitarist, taking a swig off his 16-ounce Lone Star aluminum, "it's a good night off when you can rock & roll." The combo played like a night off -- loose and solely for kicks -- ending their 40-minute set with "Sentimental," which sounded like an outtake from the Ramones'
End of the Century. By 1am, when the Punkaroos took the stage as a fourpiece, it seemed like the end of the world. Where was Dotty? Leading the local punk rock institution through a neo-surf Western instrumental, former Dicks bassist Buxf Parrot stood straight-backed and proud as the group pitted Fender against Gibson. Jumping onstage at the tune's conclusion, her hair orange, her bra sparkly green, vocalist Dotty Farrell and her black vinyl miniskirt started strutting their stuff like Mick Jagger by way of Shirley Manson. As the band churned out raw, four-chord rock, Dotty worked her diva spazz magic like local cult favorite rock & roll musical
Boy Problems had been a smash on Broadway -- like a STAR! Soon, the skirt was off, and Farrell's tight gray undergarment showed off a small, flat belly born of a high metabolism. "Thanks for coming out on a sultry summer evening," she sneered, a Dos Equis clutched in her fist. "Here's a song about having a shitty job." Lurching through their 50-minute set like a drunken cyclops, Dotty & Co. finished the evening close to 2am, with Clash city rocker "Day I Leave the USA" and "You're a Dickhead." "Thanks for sticking around," she spat. "Yeah, thanks," barked Parrot," -- you jackasses!" and as another hard-core stomper exploded with a helter skelter guitar solo, Dotty once again started clenching, bouncing, yelling, pointing, and ranting. Some Austin landmarks remain.
