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By Dave Miller

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The Third Annual Windy City Ball presented by Grape Juice Records gave music fans a good reason to venture into the aftermath of the week’s blizzard Saturday at Double Door. Many concertgoers took advantage of the ball-theme to dress accordingly. Promoters presented three very different bands on the bill. I came to check out the Detroit Cobras. I left a fan of one of the openers. More on them in a minute.

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I’ve been told over the years that I’d like the Detroit Cobras so this was my chance to finally see them. The fact that the garage rock cover band hails from the Motor City was a checkmark in its favor. The band’s lineup has changed over the years, but Rachel Nagy and Mary Ramirez have been the constants. Nagy is the lead singer and Ramirez plays rhythm guitar. I was heartened to see that Ramirez got her guitar and amplifier ready onstage before the show wearing an old Bob Seger tour jacket.  

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The Detroit Cobras are not your typical cover band. Their song selections come from deep in their record collection. Even the biggest music aficionados or DJs would be challenged to name who originally cut some of the songs. I don’t think they played one hit. I’m sure people who aren’t familiar with them think their material is original. They attack each song as if they wrote it. The result is a fresh sound that not only rocks like a ‘60s garage band but also can swing down the backroads of American roots music.

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Nagy is a commanding presence. The tall blonde sings and sways with attitude while running the show. You don’t want to mess with her as one dumbass discovered the hard way. He yelled “Fuck you!” at Nagy and she deservedly and systematically tore him apart in a calm manner, concluding by telling everyone that it’s no wonder he would be sleeping alone. Ramirez is a no-nonsense rock chick who plays without pretense. She didn’t even leave the stage between the main set and the encore. Lead guitarist Joey Mazzola was the musical hero of the night to the point of carrying the performance. His concise solos spiced up the sound and his occasional surf-rock inflections added an interesting dimension.

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Overall, the headling performance was okay, but nothing more than that. The Detroit Cobras are not on tour and their playing reflected that. With Nagy taking time to talk to the band between some songs and her seeming unhappiness with the performance of some of them, the show at times came off like a band practice. I thought “Cha Cha Twist” and the closer, “I Wanna Holler (But the Town’s Too Small),” were the closest the band caught to catching fire.                          

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The Detroit Cobras setlist*:

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Baby
Holdin On
Cha Cha Twist
Yaki Yaki
Bad Girl
Hot Dog (Watch Me Eat)
Just Can’t Please You
(I Wanna Know) What’s Going On
Out of This World
Cry On
Midnight
Puppet on a String
Darkness
Can’t Do Without You
Mean Man
Leave My Kitten Alone
99 and a Half Just Won’t Do
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Ya Ya Ya (Looking for My Baby)
I Wanna Holler (But the Town’s Too Small)
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Start: 12:22 p.m./Finish: 1:28 a.m.
Totals: 19 songs, one hour and six minutes

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I was intrigued when Hollows took the stage to play the middle slot. They consist of four girls with a maile drummer, and their sound was a combination of the classic '60s girl-group sound mixed with a garage approach. The set started promisingly, but I found their high voices wearing thin after awhile. Their songs sounded mostly the same and there wasn't much interaction between them. "Watch Out Sally" added some much-needed drama to the set. The band did manage to show its potential with a strong finish.

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Hollows setlist*:

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Up & Down

Mary Goes to Law School

Hot Sand

Bobby Blueheart

Walkaway

Johnny Appleseed

Angel Baby

Shadows in the Dark

Watch Out Sally

Do the Scarecrow

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Start: 10:58 p.m./Finish: 11:27 p.m.

Totals: 10 songs, 29 minutes

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Opening band Rambos gave the performance of the night. I still don't know quite what to make of them, but their energy and fun quotient were high. They're goofballs for sure, but they also showed they can be much more than that. They demanded attention immediately with their silly opener, "Rambos" -- set to Toni Basil's 1982 hit, "Mickey." The next two songs -- "Nothing to Say" and "USA" -- made me really take notice. Both struck me as Borat-like performance art with their subersive satire, irony and social commentary. With drummer Ian Tsan donning a Rambo headband and the band playing in front of a backdrop displaying its name copped from the movie that put American jingoism on steroids, there was suddenly a lot going on onstage. 

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Front man Jeremy David Miller was antagonistic toward the crowd, but sometimes in a non-threatening, campy way. Much of the rest of the set returned to silly fun with vocalist Julie Meckler holding up placards with song titles as if she was a ring girl in Rocky. She also shook pom pons like she was. Songs didn't have many more lyrics past their titles, but that was beside the point. Rambos sang them with gusto and their simple riffs and hooks equaled good times. The closer, another song called "Rambos," sounded like it came from a Mel Brooks movie.

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It was a fun set and the crowd responded to the shtick. It would be interesting to see the result if they toned down the camp and more fully embraced the Borat part of their performance. They've got something to mine there.

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Rambos setlist*:

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Rambos (You So Fine)    

Nothing to Say

USA

Human Monster

Faggots

Do You Want to Die

Poet Murders

Vampire

Arrows

Rock and Roll

HiYaWaTha

Terrorize

Chuck Taylors

Rambos

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Start: 9:59 p.m./Finish: 10:42 p.m.

Totals: 14 songs, 43 minutes

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*Note: All setlists were taken from the handwritten ones used onstage. Proper song titles were completed when possible, but some remain undoubtedly in shorthand.