March 01, 2005
Guitar Wolf
Aside from the lyrics to "satisfaction" by the Rolling Stones, I can confidently say that I didn't understand a single thing that Guitar Wolf said or sang from the stage. Actually no, that's not entirely true. Towards the end of the second encore he stammered out something in broken English that I think was, "We can change our past by changing the future!" and then was immediately drowned out by feedback. As far as rock stage declarations go, it was a bit sub-par, but at least it was intelligible.
This was a great show. I made a special effort to attend this show because I have wanted to see Guitar Wolf perform for a while and I had never been to CBGB's (and now with the rumor that it might close, it seemed like a good time to go).
For about an hour and a half they played non-stop-ultra-loud Japanese punk rock. The only time they stopped was to comb their hair back. The bassist and drummer always seemed to do it at the same time - in that kind of 50's Fonzie sort of way. I have also never seen a musician sweat as much as Guitar Wolf. Of course, dressed in motorcycle leather under hot lights in a small crowded room will probably do that to you. I was sweating too and all I was trying to do was avoid flailing drunkards.
I'm a bit past the whole slam-dance-mosh-pit scene, so whenever some overeager and sweaty oaf hurled himself in my direction I would neatly sidestep to the perimeter. And a few songs into the set, that happened a lot.
At one point an audience member was plucked from the crowd to play guitar. Guitar Wolf showed her the chords and then turned his attention to shouting at the crowd. Unfortunately, she seemed really uncomfortable and tried to give the guitar back several times. He would just wave her off and jump up and down a bit on stage.
But I really liked the band live. And I'm glad I got to CBGB's no matter what happens in the future. There are not too many outlets left to see black-leather clad Japanese rockers scream over feedbacking guitars to a crowd of adoring fans.
