Buck 65, a Feverishly Inspired Performance!!!!
HONEST-TRUE-FACT #27 – One hour before taking the stage at the Corona Theatre Buck 65 (a.k.a Uncle Climax ) had lost his voice.
Reaping the rewards of 20 years of touring and innovative music-making, Buck 65 is a performer who is still at the top of his game. Montreal was fortuitous to borrow this man’s unique talents for a night of dancing, drinking,”side-boob” jokes and music.
The last few months have been electric for Mr. 65 (not his real name) with his sudden jump to Social Media Stardom and the release of his “NeverLove” LP, he has been touring the world with stops in Australia, Europe and North America. For the second to last show of his world tour, Buck 65 graced the stage of a semi-packed Corona Theatre.
HONEST-TRUE-FACT #34 – Buck 65 (a.k.a DJ Critical) does NOT have the ability to shoot Giant Laser Beams from genitals, as seen in the video for the song “Super Pretty Naughty”
After a notably mellow performance from west coast band Jon and Roy, Buck 65 Zombie walked up to the centre stage microphone, propped himself up with the mic-stand, and declared that he was “at death’s door”. He had been fighting off a terrible cold for the past few days. One hour earlier he had completely lost his voice. He wasn’t sure if he could do it. Genuinely concerned shouts of encouragement rose from the crowd and a small spark ignited in Buck’s eyes. He shuffled over to his turntable, cleared his throat and dropped the needle on “Open the Gates of Hell”, the first track of his new album Neverlove.
HONEST-TRUE-FACT #42 Buck 65 (a.k.a. Richard Terfry a.ka Stinkin’ Rich) once wrote lyrics for the kids’ show Sesame Street
“Now I’m feeling devilish. Soon we’re going to settle this!” Buck rapped as he instantly sprung to life. “Open the gates of hell. FIRE! FIRE” He belted at the top of his lungs as if miraculously cured of all sickness and ready to take on the world. This is the mark of a truly professional seasoned performing artist. The ability to put aside pain and sickness and deliver the show that people are expecting, this is the ultimate compliment for any long time Buck 65 fan who payed their entrance fee and braved the cold weather to be there that night. Brandon, Buck’s tour manager, later said it might have been the best show of the tour.
HONEST-TRUE-FACT #49 – Buck 65 claims to have worn the same suit for every night of his recent tour. (Bonus fact: Buck 65 also claims that his suit smells terrible)
Buck 65’s 20 year catalogue flips from the intensely thoughtful to the extremely absurd and he is able to go from the persona of a “grave digger” to that of a “Party Boy” without missing a beat. Between preforming hits like “Paper Air Planes” and “Indestructible Sam” Buck broke out some new material from his latests offering, Neverlove. For notable highlights such as “Roses in the Rain” and “Only War” Buck was joined on stage by Swedish songstress Tiger Rosa. Tiger Rosa was the perfect eye-candy for Buck’s mostly male audience and she was well received. I won’t deny that she has a unique and emotional timber to her voice, however I could not help but notice that she was singing over her own vocals and this took me out of the moment.
HONEST-TRUE-FACT #56 – Buck 65 (a.k.a The-Sun-Tanned-One-Man-Meteor-Storm) danced with Fiest in her video for “One Evening”
YES! There was dancing. Upsettingly absent from many of my recent concert outings has been enthusiastic dancing (shame on you Sting fans). This was not, nor will it ever be a problem at Buck 65 shows. Firstly, Buck 65 is an intensely creative dancer himself. He moves in ways no human before has ever moved. Imagine combining classical ballet and “The Robot” into one discipline and throwing in a little Elvis Presley just for good measure. The audience was taught both the “Shovel Dance” and the “Rickshaw” and I for one am a better person for it. Buck’s insane dancing gave licence to the audience to dance as insanely as they might want to as well. The first three rows of attendees seem to be in a constant state of movement with moves ranging from the “hip-hop-fist-pump” to the “I took LSD and my hands are butterflies”. This is how concerts should be in my humble opinion.
HONEST-TRUE-FACT #66 – Buck 65 (a.k.a. Haslam,) has written a book and it will be released in 2015.
The highlight of the show for this reviewer was watching Mr. 65’s skills on the turntable. The use of the term DJ has become a bit too loose in recent years and any wannabe iPod Dj needs to see what Buck does before they consider using the moniker to describe themselves. At the end of many songs Buck turned to his record player and scratched out some mesmerizing and haunting improvisations, altering well known songs into something completely new. I found myself closing my eyes on many occasions and just experiencing the magic as if caught in a trance.
HONEST-TRUE-FACT #65 – Buck 65 (a.k.a. Johnny Rockwell) has a ca’ named Kevin. Kevin has no known alias.
Buck says the show almost killed him “I had to dig deep” he later posted on Facebook. “I was too locked in to know. I can barely remember it. That’s a weird and almost scary feeling. I got totally lost, which I guess is the goal. But it’s freaky when a few hours of your life are lost in your memory.” Well, Buck, many Montrealers won’t soon forget the amazing show you put on for us.
Thanks for reading that.
Review – Miley Bieber
Photos – Jason Hughes
