Southern Culture on the Skids at Rumba Cafe, Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 9, 2023
Bespectacled drummer Dave Hartman is standing in a darkened corner of the stage, holding it down on a small kit and offering occasional backgrounds, but otherwise leaving the antics to his bandmates.
Standing the middle is guitarist/vocalist Rick Miller, in a jeans jacket and ball cap, sharing the emcee and vocal duties with bassist Mary Huff, she of big red hair and funky, heartshaped sunglasses. Huff puts on a show within a show, primping, leading clap- and sing-alongs and generally acting as Southern Culture on the Skids’ hype woman while Hartman remains steady and Miller cuts loose for 95 minutes.
It’s Oct. 9 at a sold-out, rammed-full Rumba Cafe in Columbus, Ohio, and SCOTS are doing what they’ve done for 40 years - churning out self-depreciating numbers such as “Liquored up and Lacquered Down,” “Daddy was a Preacher but Mama was a Go-Go Girl” and “Dirt Track Date” in a delicious admixture of hilarious lyrics and serious musicianship, showcased on instrumentals such as “Meximelt,” where Miller handles lead and rhythm, leaving no holes in SCOTS’ sound, even as he lifts his axe high and digs into a lowdown solo.
The band did its own changeover following a well-received punkabilly set from Ohio-based quartet the Whiskey Daredevils and immediately showed its love for Link Wray on the instrumental “Skullbucket.”
From there, it was classic SCOTS as the band dedicated “My House Has Wheels” to a concertgoer from Detroit, whom it met years ago during a strike against that city’s Free Press; performed “House of Bamboo” in celebration of Columbus’ long-closed Kahiki restaurant; and nodded to its North Carolina roots with “Too Much Pork for Just One Fork” and “Banana Puddin’.”
Combining a love of rockabilly, surf music and straight rock ‘n’ roll with equal parts irreverence and earnestness, Southern Culture on the Skids is the rare band that can make such antics as inviting fans on stage to dance and toss fried chicken into the audience on “8 Piece Box” and delivering a no-jokes version of “Dear Mr. Fantasy” that finds Miller kneeling on stage coaxing Hendrixian notes and feedback from his guitar feel entirely congruent.
Grade card: Southern Culture on the Skids at Rumba Cafe - 10/9/23 - B+
