Joint Contrast

By – J.C.

Didn’t know what to expect upon taking in my very first live “country music” show over the weekend. Especially once the Hispanic bouncer at the door asked if I was packing any knives as he patted me down.

But even that wasn’t as shocking as the mosh pit that broke out down front. Or that the show was so kick ass that it won’t soon be forgotten. You see, it wasn’t all that much of a “country music” show after all. Crazy drunks were jumping on stage, crowd surfing, getting thrown out after getting their asses kicked by bouncers, all in the name of a little southern-style hell raising.

Sure, Hank Williams III sounds a bit like granddaddy Hank Sr., but he’s nothing at all like father Hank Jr. This guy has a style all to his own. That showed through in the performances he put on for such a rowdy-ass crowd. There were plenty of tattoos, titties and crazy white dudes of all walks of life, which was pointed out by Hank III himself when he said something along the lines of “who else can get country folk, hillbillies, metal heads and your everyday-average-Joe all under the same roof?”

And he played a little something for everyone too this past Saturday night at Club Firestone in Orlando, where the bar ran out of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and Hank III performed with all three of his bands for nearly three hours in all. There was Hank the country band (with banjo, stand-up bass, drums, fiddle, steel guitar and acoustic), then Hank the punk rock band (Hellbilly) and finally Hank’s most recent project, his death-metal band known as Assjack. The night was insane, to say the least.

Didn’t take long to realize there’s no sense in judging this book by its cover. I didn’t need another similar experience to compare it to. Truthfully, this guy hardly fits into a particular musical genre. He’s as Goddamn independent as they come in the music industry, I mean how many other “country music” albums have ever carried a warning label on them?

Got to respect the fact that he uses his life’s experiences to deliver the wild and edgy songs about booze, drugs, whores and more in tracks such as “Six Pack of Beer”, “Punch. Fight. Fuck.”, “Straight to Hell”, “Thrown Out The Bar” and “Smoke & Wine”, without turning a blind eye to the past. Let’s face it, he had to start somewhere.

That he’s a damn near spitting image of his grandfather, in appearance and tone, is an interesting back-story as even Hank Sr. had a bit of a wild streak in him before passing on at age 29. Over the weekend he was paid tribute to along with the likes of Cash, Waylon and Johnny Paycheck (who’s son happened to be in attendance that particular night.) Yet Hank III doesn’t offer much in the way of honoring his old man, thankfully from my point of view (and likely anybody else’s in attendance, for that matter.)

It was all about raising a great big middle finger to the establishment on this particular night, and I happen to be all for those types of gatherings. I have to say though, never been a part of anything like this and I can’t wait to do it again. Grandpa Hank would have been proud.