Report: Jon Spencer Blues Explosion Live in MA

11/06/2012

"A fervid, desperate intensity": November 1 at the Iron Horse in Northampton, operating in the long shadow of Hurricane Sandy, the boys decide it's time to fuck some shit up - and deal with that damned black mold, too.

Photos & Text By Jennifer Kelly

Two days after Sandy, leaving friends and family in cold, dark, water-less apartments, Jon Spencer's Blues Explosion made its own heat in Northampton, MA. Toting two battered guitars, antediluvian tube amps, a much-punished drum kit and a Theremin, JSBX railed against black mold, encouraged the world to take its pants off, (somewhat contradictorily) extolled the virtues of bellbottoms and generally raised the roof. Perhaps because of the difficulty factor (god knows how they managed to gas up the tour van), this was an unusually charged show, celebrating rock ‘n roll in the face of disaster with a fervid, desperate intensity.

Thanks to Pop Catastrophe for documenting the experience.