The Dirtbombs at The Echo

While the emo kids were swaying to Conor Oberst downstairs at the Echoplex, I was upstairs at the much cozier Echo venue being crushed by the high-octane rock 'n' roll explosion known as The Dirtbombs. Ko Melina, above, is a relatively recent addition to the Detroit quintet, which was formed in 1995 and is headed by garage rock god Mick Collins, ex-key member the very influential DIY rock group, The Gories, but master of many musical genres. In my estimation, both are quite humble, super cool, sharp witted, and very funny...


In The Dirtbombs, guitarist and singer Collins is flanked by drummers Pat Pantano and Ben Blackwell, bassist Zachary Weedon, and Ko on baritone guitar. In spite of its supreme heaviness, the latest lineup of Detroit's finest is super nimble and provided nonstop rocking for roughly 75 minutes, busting out modern classics and spiking once-smooth R&B gems in their powerful and distinctive manner.


Above, the encore. Where the did the drummers go? Into the crowd, below, and doing the seemingly impossible task of tearing the audience's eyes of the charismatic frontman and crazy energetic axe masters. It provided an appropriate bookend to the show's beginning, in which the drummers started off the set one after the other--setting up the crowd for the fuzzed-out rock 'n' roll orgasm to follow. Ultraglide in Black, indeed.


What a show: just straight-up rock with no image-mongering, musical gimmickry, trend-aping, or BS. Expect Ben to put up some footage on his Disposable Content! blog when he gets a break from the Yo Gabba set. Until then, check out their awesome Sly cover, below, and try to catch the band on one of its remaining West Coast dates...