The BossHoss at Effenaar, Eindhoven
Reviewed on May 2, 2008 by Roel
I’ve been into the Boss Hoss a good year or so since I first heard their debut album “Internashville Urban Hymns”. That record was full of hilarious cover songs of well known pop songs and not the kind of cover songs you expect your overpaid wedding band to play: The Boss Hoss is an all out seven piece country-joke band from Germany, that rework hit songs into their self proclaimed ‘countrytrashpunkrock’ that will make you go Yee Haw!
On to the actual show itself then: instead of eating big steaks and salads with country dressing, I went to get a bite at the local Mexican restaurant. Unfortunately, due to the incompetence of the waiting staff, I missed the openers The Hot Stewards: a band that apparently reworks hit songs into emo / hardcore / punk songs. How cunningly it was of the promoters to book them to support the Boss Hoss… They were described by people at the gig as “gay” and “probably part of their act”, but I can’t judge what I haven’t experienced. I was there to see the main band The Boss Hoss anyway.
The band hit the stage not much time after I got in and opened with the title track of their new album “Stallion Battalion”: a fast paced rocker that does their self proclaimed genre justice. After a couple songs, a few things become clear to me:
- The Boss Hoss are a very tight and energetic ensemble, incorporating many different instruments in their sound including a mandoline, standup bass and several percussion instruments.
- They supposedly hail from Berlin, Mississippi and do the accent better than the rednecks themselves.
- Although they are originally a cover band poking fun of the cowboy culture and pop songs at the same time, they now hardly play any covers. Check the set list below to see what I mean.
- It was apparently necessary to do a couple acoustic songs in the middle of their set, which really broke the flow of the set for me.
This leads me to the following conclusion:
The Boss Hoss are at their best when they play their own brand of uplifting cowboy-rock and covering hits. They are all fine musicians that handle their instruments well. The show they put up is full of clichés and therefore funny. However, one might think they’re becoming a parody of themselves when they choose to play their own songs that come of rather serious. When not covering famous songs, their style isn’t that different from a regular country-rock band. It kind of spoiled the most fun for me, although I can certainly enjoy this kind of music for one night a year. You won’t see me line-dancing in the weekend though, I’m just saying. All in all, it was an excellent concert with a couple of flaws that I can forgive the band. Just stick with covering songs though lads, seriously.
Set list:
Stallion Battalion
Omniscient Lover
Monkey Business
Hey Joe – Billy Roberts
Polk Salad Annie
I Say A Little Prayer – Aretha Franklin
High
Rodeo Radio
Hey Ya - Outkast
Yeehaw
Ca Plane Poir Moi – Plastic Bertrand
Shake And Shout
Encore:
Sabotage – Beastie Boys
Early Morning Rain
Songs per album:
Stallion Battalion: 6
Rodeo Radio: 3
Urban Hymns: 4
Not on album: 1
Gig Information
| Venue: | Effenaar, Eindhoven |
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| Date: | May 1st, 2008 |
Support Acts:
The Hot Stewards
Related Links:
| Viewed: | 253 times |
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