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Live Photos-4/14/18 No photos – will have to locate on old BMF computer

5/5/04 Echo Lounge Review

by BMF

Finally, some fresh hard fucking punk rock that stands on its own in every aspect. The Real McKenzies are the real deal in every way I can think of. They are cool friendly guys, they play HARD whether it is to an audience of 50 or 5000. There are six members in this tribe and one of them plays the BAG PIPES. Yep, I said Bag Pipes. If you were like me you are wondering how in the hell can bag pipes be in a punk rock band….well trust me….This is a PUNK ROCK MOTHERFUCKER BAND and the bag pipes sound COOL AS HELL. Matt, the bag pipe guy, pulls it off with ease and in true punk rock form. I’m not sure even how to describe how fucking cool it is. You have to go see this band..no.. you MUST go see this band if you get the chance. You won’t be disappointed. They have a duel guitar attack that would send any metal freak back to beginner lessons. They got a new drummer that SMASHES the skins. And then there is the bass player, the only one of the bunch that wore a shirt. Then of course comes Paul the lead singer, the ringmaster, the vet punker that truly believes in what he is doing. A true punker that for him the meaning of punk rock is still revolt against the gov, establishment and such. He has an intesity onstage that we haven’t seen for quite some time. Strong calculated gestures. It was a pleasure to see him and the band perform and an honor to talk with him before the show. When was the last time you went to a show and afterwards went to the merchandise table and bought every CD the group had to sell. Last night we did just that. They are that good. Below you will bits of our conversation.

 

We headed to The Echo Lounge last night not really knowing what to expect. The night exceeded our expectations to say the least. As I was waiting on an overpriced absolut and bourbon, a guy was standing there in a kilt so I introduced myself and he said he was in The Real McKenzies and his name was Paul. I told him about MusicFilter and he wondered if we wanted to ask him any questions. He came over to our table and took the time to visit with us about various stuff. We were not prepared to do any kind of interview so we just shot the shit.

 

Paul lives in Germany while the rest of the band lives in Vancouver if I heard him right. We talked about whether or not Ozzy was selling himself out and we agreed that hell no he isn’t. He paid his dues and he should be able to do whatever the fuck he wants and he is still cool as hell. A sell out, Paul said is someone like Fogerty’s brother doing what he did. Paul shares MusicFilter’s stance on downloading music in that he feels that the more you can get your music out there the better. He says he feels like once people hear his band that if they dig it, that they will go buy the product. We told him that was definately true for us that we search daily for new music and when we find something that really moves us we immediatly go buy it. The one place he said he would like to play is the MOON. When I asked him what type of music he liked to listen to the most and he said he really likes old jazz and R&B the most but still likes punk rock. He said the latest good thing he has heard is the new TSOL album (which I will now have to check out). Overall he said people are the same everywhere you go. Everywhere includes, Croatia, Slovenia and tons of other obscure places he named off that I can’t remember right now. They tour constantly. The most people they have played in front of is around 30,000 and they were asked to headline a punk rock festival in Europe but when they found out that Stiff Little Fingers would be opening for them they respectfully bowed out to a band they admired and became the openers. A couple of shows that Paul has seen that stood out for him were the Bellrays and the Spits.

 

The band that inspired Paul to get into all this was the MC5. He went to see them when he was 14 years old and shortly after he ran away to start and band and the rest is history. After he saw the MC5 he traveled over 2000 miles to see the hot new thing at the time, The Sex Pistols in Texas. He said he was very excited to see the band and meet them. He walked up to Steve Jones to shake his hand, and the handshake he got back as a limp wet rude noodle. From that point on he swore that if he were in the same position he would take the time and CARE about the people who came to see him. So there we sat, in Echo Lounge, sipping booze and shootin’ the shit with one of the coolest nicest guys we’ve met, band or no band. Thanks a lot Paul for taking the time. You have to new fans who can’t wait till the next time you find your way to Atlanta, GA