Concert Review: March 29, 2001  

    Going to a Revolvers' show is not your typical gig. In the Candler's basement, the population sample is completely distorted. I haven't seen a girl-to-guy ratio this lopsided since, well, since the last Bush gig I went to. Really, though, The Revolvers aren't that dissimilar to Bush. And any girl who has ever said, "Gavin's hot" knows why. The Revolvers have even better odds than that, though. In comparison to Bush's one extremely good looking singer, The Revolvers boast three-sometimes four-absurdly attractive band members. There hasn't been a band with an attractive quotient this high, well, since EVER. And because of it, they have to fight the girls off with their own drumsticks. In fact, the concert came to a halt midway when two girls tried to hit on Austin between songs. The band and the audience were almost as annoyed by the hiatus in the show, as the girls envious of being that close to Austin.
But once you get past the fact that these boys are hotter than coffee from McDonald's (Caution, girls AND boys…), you can't ignore the fact that The Revolvers put on a MEGA rock show with socks being rocked off right and left, literally.

   Opening the show with their original, "Open Your Eyes," The Revolvers captivated the crowd, despite the fact that hardly anyone actually knew their song. Its closeness was overwhelming. The band was right there; you could see everything they did-could catch their eyes and make contact-could feel the rock surging through your body. And it felt good. So damn good.
And then like a proper show, they took it up a notch, launching into "Bulls on Parade." A standby cover that everyone knows (and loves), this was surely one of the best songs of the evening.

   While the whole set is good, the band didn't quite achieve this intensity of energy again until later in the show when an additional guitarist brought new blood to the band. Until then, the mood kept getting interrupted by changing instruments and pedals and shooing away girls. But when they were on, they were ON. And overall, the show was excellent. My personal favorites were a cover of Fugazi's "Waiting Room," "Tokyo Campus," and "Dirger." During "Waiting Room" Hamilton Jordan turned over the duties of guitar to sometimes-member Rohan Koli, who kept up the furious pace, allowing Hamilton to utilize his frontman furor and jump around EVEN more. In fact, I'm not convinced that The Revolvers shouldn't permanently become a four-piece (Two guitars, are unquestionably better than one!), but that might simply be too much excitement for the band and the audience to actually handle.

   "Tokyo Campus" really showed off the band's original capabilities, sounding even better live than it does on demo. One fan even knew ALL the words, despite the fact that it wasn't officially released until after the gig. Thank goodness for illegal downloading.

   And of course, "Dirger" was the tightest it's ever been and the PERFECT way to end the show. The buzz of the crowd could not have gotten any higher nor the excitement more fierce. And then it was over. Yet like any good gig, The Revolvers did their job: half of you still was trying to believe it WASN'T a dream and the other half of you was trying everything possible NOT to wake up.

Written by Cynthia Swanson