Punk Before You

Fans were growing impatient as the Tubes had allowed 45 minutes to elapse after the long warm-up set by local trio Vacscene. But they hit the stage and made amends by showcasing their stellar rhythm section on two instrumentals.

Fee Waybill arrived onstage dressed as a traveling preacher circa 1899 and engaged the crowd with a soliloquy. Waybill postulated that he and everyone in attendance committed a sin of some type once a day, mostly due to the evils of TV. "We will be doing some singing and sinning tonight!"

True to his word, Waybill proceeded to commit the first of several of his own transgressions with a costume change into an X-Rated television worn on his head (one with a large black lace bra stretched over the screen) and launched into "TV is King." Afterwards the guitarist asked if that was a 3-D TV. Waybill replied, "No, it was a double D." The stage darkened as Waybill changed into a shirtless, leather-masked S&M singer who did unmentionable things to himself with his spiffy incandescent microphone.

The Tubes really got the room moving with a rapid-fire three-tune medley of "Rumble," "I Was a Punk Before You Were a Punk," and "I Saw Her Standing There." Then they played a spot-on James Brown set, which was amusing and very tight. Drummer Prarie Prince took a powerful and concise solo — one that his band mates watched and encouraged rather than disappearing offstage. The Tubes biggest hit, "White Punks on Dope," was yet to come, but by then it was after 11:30 and the moderate crowd of generally older concertgoers had started to thin.

Concert: The Tubes
Date: June 25
Venue: 4th&B
Seats: GA