Photos and Review by Jeff Palmucci
Galleries: Eagles of Death Metal, Thelma and the Sleaze
The Eagles of Death Metal played Boston’s House of Blues last Wednesday to an enthusiastic crowd. I always loved the name of this band because, if you didn’t know, these guys are definitely not a death metal band. The story (from their website) goes that founding member Josh Homme was listening to Polish band Vader with a friend, when that friend claimed Vader fell into the death metal category. Josh then referred to Vader as the “Eagles of Death Metal”, and that got the creative juices flowing.
And you know, that’s not an awful way to describe them. Many of their songs are fast and frantic, but with a less serious, more dancy feel to them than any metal band. To me, the “Eagles” component to the band’s does not mean they are more poppy, but instead conjures up something new and quirky, just as quirky as if the Eagles randomly broke out into a set of hard core metal unexpectedly in front of one of their traditional audiences.
Before they came out, openers Thelma and The Sleaze put on a great opening set to a small but dedicated crowd. This is the first time I saw this band, and when trying to dig up some information, and all I could find was this hilarious Facebook info page. Anyways, guitar and lead “LG” (couldn’t find any other name) put on a great show, playing her guitar behind her head and banging her guitar strings on her mic stand like Jimmy Page if he accidentally misplaced his bow. I overheard one of the audience members claim “that guitarist is a bad-ass”. I agree.
EODM came out next with lead Jesse Hughes sporting full Red Sox paraphernalia, and waxing poetic about his idol, Wade Boggs. The crowd agreed.
These guys put on an awesome show. The set list was a mix of 6 tracks off their newest album Zipper Down, along with a lot of older stuff, including the track that made me a fan of these guys, I Want You So Hard. They also played some of my other favorites Wannabe in LA and I Only Want You. Give them a listen, you’ll see what I mean by quirky.
A great night of music. Check them both out if you get a chance.
P.S. No, I’m not going to talk about the incident. They didn’t.
Eagles of Death Metal and Thelma and the Sleaze at the House of Blues Boston
