Stagestruck

THE BELLRAYS
@Emo's, Austin, TX
April 13, 2001
"There's a fire on the moon," belted out BellRays singer Lisa Kekaula in the opening song on this humid Texas night. Translate "moon" to mean "Emo's stage," and that statement is perfectly accurate. As usual, the Riverside quartet came to burn the house down, and with a spate of van troubles now behind them, they had a lot of energy and frustration ready to be loosed on the hapless (but eager) capacity crowd. Guitarist/former bassist Bob Vennum isn't quite the slash-and-burn, Wayne Kramer-gone-free jazz picker as was Tony Fate, the man into whose shoes he stepped, and bassist Jeff Porterfield doesn't have the Noel Redding, six-stringer-on-a-four-string style Vennum had, but they made up for it with a simpler, more driven style that roars forward in time with drummer Mike Sessa like a runaway missile. Riding the juggernaut like she was born to it, Kekaula aimed it straight at the heart of the crowd, her powerhouse vocal chords handily smashing through all defenses to allow the band's warhead to strike true. The band drew liberally from their previous records, rocking the audience hard with "Under the Mountain," "Today Was," "Hole in the World" and the menacing "Gather Darkness" (from their recent Smash the Hits! 8-inch), debuting some new tunes along the way. They were particularly impressive when they slowed down for "Have a Little Faith in Me" and "Zero P.M.," a pair of Grand Fury tunes that allow Kekaula to show a soulful croon that complements her usual fury. They closed with a crushing "Blues For Godzilla," a gem from Let It Blast that left both band and crowd sated, as evidenced by the daze most of the audience felt themselves left in and the flurry of CD sales the band experienced afterward. The BellRays are rock 'n' roll true believers, no posing, no irony, and no bullshit, and they expect nothing less from the audience. When Kekaula points her finger at you and screams "Are you ready?," you better have the right answer. Michael Toland