B.R.M.C. entered the stage at Chicagoís Vic theatre amidst a huge cloud of smoke, a back light that looked like it came off of a sunken battleship, and a recording of spoken word poetry backed by thunderous hand claps and cheers. The poised trio of black silhouettes grabbed their instruments of rock destruction and embarked on an hour-long journey into rockís past, present, and future. “Red Eyes and Tears” was the song of choice to get the party started, and it was a perfect selection, as the excessive cigarette smoke had me longing for Ben Stein and an economy sized bottle of Clear Eyes. A number of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club favorites were touched upon throughout the evening, including “White Palms,” “Rifles,” “Awake,” and, of course, “Love Burns” and “Whatever Happened to my Rock ëNí Roll.” Three non-album tracks were also performed, one, featuring guitarist Peter Hayes using a slide to ignite his axe into a blaze of psychedelic rock glory, was chosen to close to show.

B.R.M.C. was sadly not clad in leather, and there were no motorcycles to be seen, nor anyone who appeared to be in a biker gang (save for the bouncer who made me empty my pockets five times to gain entry), but their music made up for the lack of “look” I was expecting. The bandís hybrid of psychedelic late ’60s/early ’70s rock and classic punk, mixed with their own unique, low-end assault and feedback friendly interludes made for an exciting, entertaining, and ear-ringing event. Kudos to B.R.M.C. and Jennifer Cudahy from Virgin.

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