Review: Moistboyz at John and Peter’s in New Hope

The Moistboyz stormed John and Peter’s last Wednesday night and took no prisoners.

With his foot to the floor, New Hope’s favorite son, Mickey Melchiondo (a.k.a. Mickey Moist, Dean Ween) red-lined his high-performance V8 of a band through 20 tales of anger and psychosis in a non-stop set of killer rock. Fueled by front man Guy Heller’s rage-filled, high-octane lyrics and Mickey’s grinding brilliance on guitar, the band turned in a set that was worthy of their reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the music business.

Playing to a packed house, Guy Heller (Dickie Moist) thrashed, stomped, smoked, swore and vibrated across the stage. Naked to the waist, rip cord muscles rippling under a tattooed chest, his trademark Marlboro gripped in a tight fist, he laid bare his soul in a spell binding hour and a half of sweat soaked, tobacco stained anger and bitterness, while Mickey’s guitar blazed away around him, delivering the brilliant and beautiful leads which are his special gift.

With less than a week of rehearsals under their belt, the new band of Nick Oliveri (from Mondo Generator) on bass, Steve Haas on guitar, and “Hoss” Wright on drums, proved more than capable of laying down the massive back beat that Moistboyz music requires. Steve Haas in particular did a skillful job of playing second guitar parts to Mick’s searing guitar lines, which have to be heard live to be fully appreciated.

They were all there. All the tunes that Moistboyz fans have come to love through the five Moistboyz albums: The Reaper, SuperSoaker, Valley of the Sun (my personal favorite), Captain America, The Tweaker, plus fresh stuff from the new album Moistboyz V: Protect and Serve, Hanging By a Thread, Medusa, Garbageman and many more.

And yeah, it was too loud, too smokey, too crowded, and all the other toos, but there wasn’t a better night of music anywhere in America last Wednesday.

I managed to grab a few minutes with Mickey after the show:

So, are you glad to get this act back on the road? Been a long time coming, I know…
Mickey: Yeah, you know how it is. This just poured out in the studio, but getting it booked and on stage always seems to take forever. This is no lap of luxury tour. It’s us in the van, cheap hotels, two to a room, lots of driving. The real deal.

Its been a while since you’ve been in the trenches. You think you’re still up to it?
Well, it’s short spurts, which helps. We’ll do here, Philly, NYC and Rochester, then take a short break. Then we are out for three weeks or so in the Midwest, home, then back out in the South for longer. Somewhere in there, we’ll transition into summer festivals. And yes, I’m up for it. I’ve been waiting to get back out and have my say for quite a while.

How’s the new band?
Killer.

You miss the former lineup?
Of course, but all the guys from our last time out have moved on to other projects, and I was more than happy with the current line up. Everybody moves on.

So, the new album…I love it. I know the Boyz are one of your favorite projects. Do you have anything else going on..besides your alternate existence as a sea captain — fishing guide, I mean?
As you know, there’s product for days in the can. At some point coming up, I hope to get that released, too. We are blessed with so many top notch players here. Its almost a problem.

And the Moistboyz? Anything else besides the upcoming road work?
You know the Moistboyz never retire……

If  you like maximum rock, and you haven’t yet picked up Moistboyz V, I encourage you to grab it and all the rest of the Moistboyz albums, if you can. There isn’t a better hard rock band out there today.