|
Highlight: Halfway through the show Tricky Woo singer/guitarist Andrew Dickson decides to slide on his back over the 15 feet of tables located in front of the stage. Drinks go flying and a displaced MusiquePlus celebrity is overheard repeatedly calling Dickson an "asshole." As my neighbour Andrew Dickson and I settle into our daily ritual of sitting at my kitchen table discussing rock music, gardening, the fine art of BBQing, household cures for the common cold, ad tedium, I can't help but feel more than a little goofy talking to my longtime friend about his rock 'n' roll dark side. I just can't for the life of me visualize him as the man who took off all his clothes at a show attended by my mother or the guy who decided to sing the second verse of a song using a girl's crotch instead of a microphone. My so-called "journalistic objectivity" is shot all to hell as I look across my kitchen table at the guy who looks after my plants when I leave town, fer chrissakes.
After Andrew showers me with peals of laughter he regains his composure and reluctantly agrees to play the rock star role. "Obviously I do feel a transformation when I'm onstage," says Andrew, who is dressed in track pants and a shirt he obviously slept in the night before. "It's not like I black out or rehearse it or anything. It just happens. The closest thing I can come up with is that I play in a band whose members feel that rock 'n' roll is the most important thing in the world. To go on stage and simply go through the motions would be disrespectful to the people who came to see us. Rock 'n' roll, much like good gospel music, is an energy and if it's done right the audience will feel it." Whoah! This is going to be weird.
At the end of the show a frustrated Andrew Dickson sheds all his clothes, walks straight to the back of the club and plunks himself down on the pool table while two major label A&R people attempt to play out their game. Highlight: Upon very close inspection, it would appear that it was very cold in the club or Andrew had been doing extended laps in a pool before taking the stage that night. Operative term: shrinkage. Tricky Woo's commitment to reclaiming the tarnished name of rock 'n' roll from the money-grubbing hands of radio programmers and major label schmoes is a fight they take very seriously. It is obvious to anyone who meets the members of Tricky Woo that they honestly believe that their mission has never been more important and their motives never less selfish.
Actually, Rocket From the Crypt is a good place to start when trying to conjure up a description of That Which Is Woo. Too authentically rock 'n' roll to sit comfortably with the Gucci-loafered grunge pimps at the majors. Too damn slick and tight for the terminally time-warped retro scenesters. A meaty, flashy sound that has fattened itself up in increments since their first seven-inch on Mag Wheel. Their first full-length disc, Rock and Roll Music Part One, popped out on Vice magazine's SSG imprint, sleek, fast and nasty as a moray eel. And the poison is taking effect. After blowing everybody away at the Halifax On Music Festival in the fall of '97, Tricky Woo were snatched up as fast as possible by Canadian indie megalabel Sonic Unyon for their second full-length release, The Enemy Is Real, to be released this week. Their new video for "Blue Flames" is seeing rotation on both MuchMusic and MusiquePlus, a cross-Canada tour is already booked for this summer and there will be a mini tour in the support slot for Marky Ramone and The Intruders. With the Epitaph and Fat Wreck babysitting money sifting more towards more rock 'n' roll acts, it looks like Tricky Woo may find themselves in the slingshot of fame. Dickson, for his part, is not so quick to agree. "When we started Tricky Woo we didn't think we would ever make any money and we still don't. This thing is more important than making money. We're trying to make music honest and pure again--you can't put a dollar sign beside that." Dateline: The Bar Fly, the Lambs show, winter 1997 A woman claiming to be offended by Tricky Woo's "sexist" stage antics ripped an earring out of Andrew Dickson's ear, showered him in beer and attempted to rip his clothes off while shouting "How do you like being objectified?" Dickson on the incident: "I'm glad we were included in somebody's life. I believe that woman had a complete right to do what she did. In a weird way we at least agreed that safety and complacency are our biggest enemies." It can be argued that Tricky Woo are Montreal's most controversial band, having been physically and verbally accosted in the streets for their choice of lurid posters (which often depict busty babes) or their use of questionable stage antics. Previous flyers for the band's shows have already been victims to graffiti. "Hate" and "misogynist" have been scrawled over their posters, but most are simply just ripped down. For the upcoming show at Cinéma L'Amour, Tricky Woo had to print up three times the usual amount of posters due to the protesters who rip them down or mutilate them with X-acto knives. Dickson takes it all in stride, hinting that the true enemy these people should be fighting are sexless creatures like Rick Astley or Debbie Gibson. "It seems like the sexual revolution has died and sex has been forced underground again," he opines. "Things like the Internet and home videos have turned sex into a dirty word again. When people accuse us of being sexist, they never mention me grabbing guys and kissing them during our show, which also happens. We're not objectifying anyone--we're trying to say loosen up and let's get some energy happening in the room. Sexual energy to me is the obvious choice to touch upon. I mean, where the hell do you think the term rock 'n' roll comes from?! I'm completely stunned that people cannot make the correlation that rock 'n' roll was '50s slang for fucking." Where most bands prefer to hold their record release parties within the safe confines of well-established watering holes, Tricky Woo would rather walk the wire without a safety net. Having already performed in a diner and a pizza parlour, these rebels now put the bump and grind in their rock 'n' roll at the best little jack shack in town, Cinéma L'Amour. It's not only the place where Harry Houdini suffered the blow to the stomach which would result in his death, but was also house to some of vaudeville's greatest acts before turning into a stroker's den. "I am a fan of vintage pornography," admits Dickson, "and I'm looking forward to turning people on to some of my favourite porn as much as I am looking forward to playing that night. If people have a problem with us because we're glorifying pornography, then they should just not come. We are celebrating pornography's best years--the '50s, '60s and '70s. Pornography these days is about as erotic as watching the surgery channel. I like to think of Tricky Woo the same way I do vintage porno, a kind of now-you-see-it, now-you-don't tease. Most of the crap selling itself off as rock 'n' roll these days is just a beaver shot."
Dateline: Cinéma L'Amour Tricky Woo launch their album The Enemy Is Real with special guests, vintage pornography and the congenial hosting skills of Johnny Cheesecake. Five bucks gets you in.
|
Dateline: The Monkey House, CKUT benefit, winter 1997
As we wash down each topic of conversation with high-octane coffee like a couple of Prozac-gulping housewives, I can feel the caffeine begin to loosen the screws at the back of the tongue. The hack in me rears its even uglier head as I begin to kick into interview mode by leading up to Andrew's least favourite subject: himself and his band. I lunge from friendly neighbour to prying journalist with a quick: "Hey Andrew, what gives with this rock 'n' roll badboy shit?"
Dateline: The 360 club, Toronto, 1997 CMW music conference
Along with Andrew Dickson, Tricky Woo's crusade to save rock 'n' roll is rounded out by drummer Sasha Roiz, bassist Eric Larock (yep, that's his real name!) and guitarist Adrian Popovich. Two of the members sport Rocket From the Crypt and MC5 tattoos and don't harbour plans to "go ska" anytime soon.