Mars Needs Guitars

Had just arrived at the theater for Zodiac in the 42nd Street Cinemas (I like the big theater seats and it's on the 7 line for easy access to home) when I got a call from my lil' buddy Kappy asking if I wanted to come see the Hoodoo Gurus at BB King's at 9. Funny since 10 seconds earlier I had noticed when I was riding up the escalator that they were playing right across the street, and thought...

Hoodoo Gurus?? One of my favorite bands of 1986-87, when Shellie and I played Stoneage Romeos and Mars Needs Guitars about 2 million times? I didn't even know they were still together, much less touring.

Kaplan said they were amazing in a 30-minute set at SXSW over the weekend, and some quick research showed that they had been putting out records throughout the 90's, reformed in 2004 like all bands seem to do these days (remember when bands actually broke up, forever?) and were now touring the US for the first time in 13 years. Still huge apparently in Australia, regularly playing festivals with the Strokes and Metallica.

I had to cut out of the 2 hr and 40 minute Zodiac 20 minutes early but I knew how it ended (no, they never catch him - but I liked the movie, excellent cast. David Fincher's generally decent, and it was like a big episode of "Law and Order") and cross the street. We walked in just as they kicked off with "I Want You Back" and ran full-throttle through all the songs I wanted to hear: "Poison Pen", college radio staple "Bittersweet," "What's My Scene," and "Tojo" along with some of the music they put out in the last 15 years since I'd last heard them.

Overall: the old stuff is more rocking, the newer not as good, it was an old stock broker looking crowd, BB King's is a lame place to see a band, and hoards of fist-pumping, singing-along Aussie men are only entertaining for a max of 80 minutes.