New Year's Eve with TV's Chris and Tad and Money Jungle 12-31-13

What a wacky evening and I only caught 2 out of the 3 bands tonight. KLED, the craziest of the bunch, came on after midnight and I had already melted. Darrells was packed with party goers and the place was buzzing when I walked in just after 9. That was the same situation when I walked out.

Here is Dan and Jay of Darrells. Wonderful fellows. I like that Jay wore his formal t-shirt.

Here is DJ Danger Nun spinning her incredible groovy collection of vintage 45's before, between, and after the bands. She is Leslie Beattie from Thee Sgt Major III.

I love Darrells Tavern; my home away from home. I was here last year for the New Year's Eve event I couldn't miss this one. Here are a couple pics from the inside of this very cool vintage roadhouse.

Tonight promised an evening of novelty and unique bands. Here is the description from the Facebook page: Three wonderful and absolutely wackily unique bands and one wacky-fun DJ. They will throw all political correctness right out the front door while welcoming in the new year with a ton of Darrell's Tavern fans and friends. First up was TV's Chris and Tad.

Here they are conducting a science experiment. Had something to do with Alchemy, bloodletting and flame. They were able to make fire out of nothing and then light a ceremonial and obviously spiritually infused candle.

Did I mention that they were dressed like they were in Polar Bear country? This was the first of many layers.

Voila!

Chris and Tad are: Chris Ballew from the Presidents of the United States of America and Tad Hutchison of the Young Fresh Fellows. They have their own Wiki page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_and_Tad

They so crazy. They handled all material with extension tongs.

One layer off and they turned into interstellar rangers. All the while playing funny, sometimes disturbing songs with insane subjects and questionable lyrics. It was a gas.

They did get down to some serious music; it just had a strange sense of humor.

They were not satisfied to stay on stage. Here they are getting to know the audience. I think they were asking us to lick them in their bathing suit area.

Another shed of clothes, another seriously crazy scene.

They were hilarious. Original music delivered in a most entertaining way. Here goes another layer with a new persona, a new set of songs.

This was a most excellent evening. They were incredibly animated and fun. Here is a link to a great video of them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goTP6z-KUd4

Thank goodness they didn't go down to skin. This wasn't a Burlesque show, although nothing would have surprised me.

Good clean fun, fit for family and the youngens. Midnight was drawing nigh and Dan and his minions were getting ready with party favors and champagne.

Next up was Money Jungle, a collection of crazy characters that just happen to be great musicians. I saw them last year and they were just as fun and creative this year. They also just plain rock as evident in these 3 pics.

Here is the post from last year: http://liveseattlemusicintheclubs.blogspot.com/2013/01/new-years-eve-with-paul-benoit-dry.html

Money Jungle is Bill, Jim Stephan, Dan Weber on drums, and Bob on bass.

Like the previous group, they play novelty tunes but they rock like the big boys.

There was no lack of passion or skill; the place was rocking to these wacky performers. Dan is a talented percussionist and he is having fun tonight.

I met this strange, compelling fellow last year.

He is quite photogenic and one hell of an entertainer. He plays lead guitar all while belting out the killer vocals.

This was a ton of fun, a lot of energy and as it got closer to midnight it got more crowded. Here, Money Jungle gives the salute after their sound check. BTW, every song was a sound check. I am not sure if these guys can commit to a particular sound. Every song was a test.

I was toast after the clock struck midnight so I didn't get to see KLED. Really a shame as I know they are amazing. Here is evidence of their sick humor.

Thanks to Darrell's Tavern for presenting quality live music. You can connect with them here: http://www.darrellstavern.com/

Go out and see some live music soon. The artists and venues need your support.