The Chosen Few

That’s how guitarist Skip McDonald of Tackhead described the 30 people who turned out for last night’s phenomenal show at the Black Cat. Early in the night when I realized how small the crowd was going to be for this legendary band, I felt embarrassed that this was the biggest crowd DC could muster for them.

But when Tackhead took the stage, in the near empty Black Cat, they embraced the small crowd of die-hard fans like old friends and gave a truly mind-bending performance. The band declared at the beginning of the night that even though there were so few people, Tackhead were going to “rock the fuck out like there were a thousand.” And they did just that.

I never imagined I would ever get to see this band play live. Being able to do so with such an intimate crowd setting was amazing. For guys who haven’t played together in 13 years they sound as fresh as they did in their prime. The set was intense fun covering the gamut of styles Tackhead were known for. What amazed me most of all was how charismatic each individual member of the band is and how proficient they are with there instruments. Each member had a chance to show off their chops in devastating extended solos.

And of course what would Tackhead be without the extreme leftist politics? In the form of their godlike bassist, Doug Wimbush, they didn’t disappoint. He gave a funky slam-poetry style anti-Bush intro to a new song called “Terrorism” that would have gone down in music history if there had been more people in attendance.

Instead that great spontaneous rant and this historic show will only live on in the memories and re-telling of the chosen few that were there. I’m glad I was one of them.

Originally published on September 9, 2004.

Six years later and I still feel incredibly fortunate to have seen this amazing show!