You can always judge where a band is coming from by the songs they choose to cover. And the Dollyrots do have quite a selection of bands they cover. The Undertones, Nirvana, The Queers, Tom Petty, the Pogues, Mariah Carey and the Contours (via Johnny Thunders). They even pay tribute to the Adverts on the cover of their latest album, “Night Owls”. However, I don’t think they did any cover songs at the Casbah this night. At least any that I didn’t recognize. They don’t just do straight covers. They’re smart enough to put their own stamp on them and make them their own. And there’s really no reason for them to play other people’s songs. With at least 10 albums under their belt, along with a few EPs and a bunch of singles, their original songs stand up as good as the songs they cover. And if they’re cool enough for Little Steven to sign him to his Wicked Cool record label, they’re cool enough for me! Not to mention tours with Black Flag and the Buzzcocks. The Dollyrots are also never afraid to take chances, doing a Christmas album, a collaboration with Bowling For Soup, and even bring their kids on tour and having them onstage!
Led by husband and wife team, guitarist Luis and bassist Kelly, the Dollyrots have been working nonstop, touring and consistently releasing albums and singles for the past 24 years. They play catchy punk rock with the emphasis on “rock”, loud guitars, and poppy vocals. And they must be the greatest parents in the world, as they bring their kids on tour with them too and even onstage. The daughter, Daisy, is 7 years old and is already a better drummer than me. She helped out on a couple songs for the encores, pounding along with their normal drummer (couldn’t find his name!) on the snare. River, their 10 year old son, told jokes and did yo-yo tricks, which were pretty impressive. Coolest parents ever, as I certainly was never allowed to be up this late at that age! lol
They had a rough time the past week, especially Kelly. She tore open her knee onstage in Oregon last week and had to get 15 stitches on her kneecap, which was ripped open. Trooper that she is, if you didn’t notice her limping onstage with a big leg brace, you never would’ve known how injured she was. She had to have been in a ton of pain. They played a good hour with their loud and hard and poppy rock. The kids came up for the encores and for “Because I’m Awesome!”, the opening bands, Go Betty Go and the Touchies ran up onstage to join them. A great time was had by all!
All pictures of the show by Ted Tarris.
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