Concert Review
Guitar Wolf
at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, CA
March 15, 2005

In 1970, Japanese author Yukio Mishima entered a military base in Tokyo, took the general hostage, gave a crazed right-wing speech to the cadets and then commited Hari Kari. He stabbed himself in the stomach as his right-hand man took three whacks at his neck to finish the job. That’s balls out and harder’n real. Guitar Wolf plays punk rock like Mishima shoves swords into his belly: to the hilt.

Whether he was playing a solo while crowd surfing, playing a solo atop a cocktail table in the audience, or playing a solo engulfed by the screaming, sweaty and (inexplicably) rat-tailed crowd, Seiji (guitar/vocals) embodied rawk. I didn’t understand a word he sang or yelled other than “baby,” and what sounded like, “lock and load,” but comprehending the words wasn’t necessary. The energy coursing through Seiji and into the crowd was communication enough. It’s often stated that a good audience is just as important as the performer and a Guitar Wolf show proves this maxim. At one point Seiji pulled a fan up on stage, gave her his guitar and she proceeded to awkwardly strum out a few arrhythmic chords that didn’t seem to drain any of the energy or power of the song. She didn’t know what she was doing but it didn’t matter. Enthusiasm was paramount. It was like guitar karaoke with 200 of your best friends screaming encouragement.

I don’t know why, but there’re some Japanese bands, such as Guitar Wolf and DMBQ, that can turn up rock posturing to levels that transcend the inherent laugh-ability of rock posturing. If you go see Guitar Wolf, I suggest you pour yourself into some leather pants, put your goats in the air, and get ready to fucking “lock and load.”

-Bert Blodau