Murder City Devils
w/ Botch, American Steel
Tues Oct 30
Crystal Ballroom

Murder City Devils fans Prepare to shed a tear. After this upcoming Portland appearance (and one more in Seattle), the band will be officially kaput. Naturally, it's a fucking bummer, because as a long-standing fan of this Seattle group, I've often enjoyed the Devils' ability to turn their shows into memorable trainwrecks.

Known for their incendiary performances (literally), the Devils' blend of surf, punk, and heavy metal has only become tighter with age, but with the loss of organist Leslie Hardy (who moved away), the band has decided to hang it up. And while its members will certainly go on in one form or another, the Mercury would like to take this opportunity to recount some of those "Murder City moments," that touched our hearts.

Like the time Leslie was on stage, and threw up in her mouth.

True, normally people throw up on things; like a keyboard, one's own trousers, or a fellow band member. At one memorable show, Leslie had drank herself to a point of vomiting, but instead of grossing the audience out by projectile puking across the stage, Leslie vomited--and then promptly swallowed it. Now there's a lady with some class.

I like to call the eighth member of the Murder City Devils "fire." Sure, it's one thing to destroy your equipment at the end of a rousing performance, but sometimes, the Devils just don't feel right without dousing the organ or drum set in lighter fluid, and setting it ablaze.

And if "fire" is the band's eighth member, "fist-fighting" is certainly the ninth. At one particularly raucous all-ages show, a young gentleman from the audience jumped on stage, knocked lead singer Spencer to the ground, and bounced on his chest while he sang. An overly protective Gabe (the band's stalwart roadie) ran to his rescue, and to his great surprise, got his own ass kicked off the stage by Spencer for, shall we say, "interfering with the moment."

Yes, it's misty water-colored memories like these that will comfort us in the future, but don't be a sap and miss their last Portland performance--'cuz who knows what trouble they'll cause? God bless ya, Murder City Devils, one and all.