Amanda Mack
Even though Nashville, TN natives, Be Your Own Pet, sold out Third Man Records’ The Blue Room, the mood could not have been further from that. It’s been 15 years since the foursome embarked on a North American tour and choosing to kick it off in their hometown brought out some notable residents. Blair Tramel of Snõõper jumped on stage to perform the Devo cover, “Girl U Want”, with the band. There was even a post-show appearance from rock ‘n’ roll’s most famous upholsterer, Jack White (in a very brisk, walk-by cameo that left everyone so stunned that no one actually said anything, which felt like the desired outcome).
Texas-based band Being Dead was the perfect choice to kick the night off. They quickly won over the crowd with a blend of fun between-song banter, perfect harmonies, and quirky, tempo-shifting surf-rock. A few songs into their set, their guitarist, Juli Keller (henceforth referred to as Falcon Bitch), and drummer, Cody Dosier (whose government name is surely Gumball), switched instruments, a move that completely changed the dynamics of the set. Falcon Bitch is an easy-going guitarist but hits the drums like they owe her money while Gumball felt pretty blissed out on drums but possessed on guitar (I promise there’s a difference). While their bassist, Ricky Moto, didn’t take part in any of the instrument switching, she got in on the antics by providing Charades-esque movements to tell her bandmates the next song on the setlist.
Be Your Own Pet kept their set well-balanced even with a fuller, more well-known back catalog. The audience felt equally excited for songs from both eras. If they were more pumped for “The Kelly Affair” than “Pleasure Seeker,” I couldn’t tell. Jemina Pearl and crew ripped through the classics like “Fuuuuuun”, “Wildcat!” “Adventure”, “We Will Vacation, You Can Be My Parasol”, “Bicycle, Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle”, popular b-side “Black Hole” and of course, “Becky”.
Pearl, guitarist Jonas Stein, bassist Nathan Vasquez, and drummer John Eatherly looked to be having more fun now than they did ripping through those songs as teenagers. Pearl flailed wildly, shimmied, and slithered about on stage just as she famously did all those years ago, but just with more consideration and probably less post-show bruising (she’s got two kids and a mortgage now after all). From their new killer LP, Mommy, they broke out “Erotomania”, “Rubberist”, “Hand Grenade”, “Worship the Whip”, and an impassioned rendition of “Big Trouble” which got Pearl talking about some of Tennessee’s stances on women’s rights in the state. The set only slowed down once for the dreamy, romantic “Teenage Heaven”, the second song of a two-song encore that included a cover of The Damned’s “Neat Neat Neat” at the top.
Be Your Own Pet pick up with their “Teenage Heaven World Tour” on October 18 with a stop in Chapel Hill, NC at Local 506. You can buy tickets here and watch the video for “Good Time!” below.
Check out the photo gallery from the show:
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