If you’ve never seen Black Lips live, you owe it to yourself to do so the next time they are in town. This being my third time seeing them at the Cat’s Cradle this weekend, I can say with 100 percent certainty that they put on one of the best rock shows out of any touring band playing now.
After a mediocre opening set by the band Box Elders (think Black Lips minus any hooks), the Lips took the stage at full throttle and never let up. “O Katrina” and “Short Fuse,” two of my favorite Black Lips songs, popped up early in the set, along with Beatles-esque crowd-pleaser “Dirty Hands.”
One of the most entertaining parts of a Black Lips show is watching guitarist and singer Cole Alexander flail around the stage. While I’d seen him pull the spit-straight-up-and-catch-it move before, he had a new trick this time which involved spitting on the back of his guitar and raising it up to catch the drip. All this while never missing a note.
A lively crowd who bounced the whole show and a light mosh pit only served to add to the energy being exuded from the stage.
Black Lips are truly the definition of a great live rock show.