Viva Le Vox at Respectable Street on 2010-10-15

You can feel the raw emotion

One of the bands I’ve been most interested in seeing lately is Viva Le Vox. I’ve seen the guys around at a lot of shows and have previously met Antoine, Paul, and just recently met their newest bass player Trevor (recently since he just moved here a week and a half ago!) and have been very eager to make it happen to see them play live. Well, Friday night was that night. Between their awesome outfits, extremely interesting instruments and stage equipment, I had no idea what to expect. But what I got was an amazing amalgam of music and talent that I can only describe as vaudeville punk Their stage show is as much about their look and theatrics as it is about the music and it’s a great balance. With Paul’s large stature and sad clown make-up, Tony’s rough-and-ready psychobilly looks, and Antoine’s huge floor tom drums that are almost as big as he is and Raleigh fingers moustache, it’s quite a sight to take in visually. Aurally, however, is another story. Their sound is quite hard to describe because on the one hand, it’s got heavy punk influences but on the other, what punk bands do you know of that have a stand up bass, washboard, and antique accordions? The punk sound is combined with what I can feel is a mix of 1920s and 1930s melodies, old-time microphones and mentality, with a tinges of bluegrass and rockabilly. Whatever it is, it’s awesome and these guys absolutely love what they do.

I cannot wait to see them again!