Neumo's Had a Million Butts, And They Rocked Them All

OK, perhaps there weren't a million people at Neumo's on Saturday night, but the turnout for the Buttrock Suites was downright impressive. Replete with live band, the Suites was a smörgåsbord of guilty-pleasure rock, sexy swagger, and manic modern dance madness that threw the first punch and kept swinging all night long. The energy was a bit low when we arrived towards the end of the readings, but it did not stay down once the band took the stage. There were mullet wigs and torn jeans and bandannas and pleather pants, and did we know that Rhett Miller had nice pipes? Yes, he does. However, the prolific singer was in fact Rick Miller, and apparently the mistake we just made happens far to often to good old Rick (thanks for dropping us a line, Rick, and for John Galt's comment). The important point is: Rick Miller had buttrock-worthy pipes that could easily handle a range from Steve Perry to Klaus Meine, and he had Seattlest wrapped around his pinky (current Rick info, including his bluegrass predilections, is on the Buttrock Suites MySpace page).

Things said by Seattlest and Mr. Seattlest (who is from Kent, so this was like a homecoming) over the course of the evening:

"Holy shit!" (repeatedly)
"No way, they are not about to play..." (too many times to count)
"That is so fucked up" (at least five times, twice during a solo to Journey's With Open Arms that involved a straitjacket for a costume, and three times during the Cowboys-and-Indians piece set to Run To The Hills)

The image to the left (courtesy of Samantha over at Metblogs, who was also in attendance) is the Tin Man about to give it to Godzilla, during a Black Sabbath-Blue Oyster Cult showdown that could end only as it did: with everyone on stage breaking into Beat It by Michael Jackson.

The AC/DC medley was a highlight, with a lead singer joining the band who was the visual and auditory mimic of Brian Johnson, right down to the damn cap. We suspect that guy has been fronting an AC/DC cover band somewhere for quite some time now...

We'll have to ask the Suites folks how they think it went, but overall the live band contributed a great deal, notably because they were so ridiculously tight, and kept it interesting with guest singers. The sightlines for dance at Neumos are pretty brutal from the main floor, however. We spent the first half right at the railing in the mezzanine, which afforded a great view of the floor with only slight visual obstruction of the band. When we hit the floor after intermission, the energy of the band was more infectious, but we missed quite a bit of the dancing, especially Juliet Waller Pruzan's interpretation of Ozzy's Crazy Train.

Images courtesy of Metblog's Samantha (aka Flickr user GingerLee)