Ugly Kid Joe @ Jailbreak 2024
I guess they're as ugly as they wanna be, all else being equal
Given how unimpressive their latest LP was; given how relatively unimpressed I was with their show at Copenhell 2022, and seeing as how they rarely play a lot of songs from their best album, 1995's "Menace to Sobriety" (or, indeed, anyone at all from their second-best album, '96's "Motel California"), maybe I shouldn't bother with a band like Ugly Kid Joe at this point.
But it's a nice, sunny summer day; we've all got beer in our bellies, and nobody else is playing anyway. So, for old times' sake, then.
Vocalist Whitfield Crane is wearing the exact same Lemmy/Snaggletooth motif t-shirt as he did the last time I saw UKJ. Perhaps not incidentally, seeing as how he was just on stage with Lemmy's former drummer, Mikkey Dee, belting out "Ace of Spades" and "Born to Raise Hell". During those performances, however, he did seem a bit… not tired, but maybe slow? And I might suspect him of having gotten high backstage, but of course, a rockstar wouldn't do that, so I dunno, man…
Anyway, UKJ board the stage with that impeccably heavy intro from aforementioned '95 banger. And while, in spite of a bit low lead guitar, it doesn't get heavier than this (at least until the Baest show later today), it doesn't have to. And even though UKJ drag us through newer stuff like AC/DC ripoff "That Ain't Livin'" and the directionless "I'm Alright", the latter remains descriptive of our collective baseline of well-being here.
We're alright, in other words. In fact, we're better than alright. Because, having earned their career merit as a downright joke band, UKJ are here to entertain as much as play. Virtually all songs have little interludes in between them, seeing Crane comment insistingly on the frequency with which people wash their hands at this festival, and having us collectively shout the name of one of Jailbreak's prison-uniformed, crowdsurfing skeletons ("BJAR-NE! BJAR-NE! BJAR-NE! BJAR-NE!"). And what the Hell not.
Yes, unlike DragonForce, UKJ wouldn't need to turn down the joke frequency, seeing as how they don't bet on playing a lot of serious, memorable songs. Which, it should rightly be argued, is a shame. Because while those debut cuts like "Neighbor", "Panhandlin' Prince" and "Goddamn Devil" might be preferable to, say, virtually anything you'd hear on mainstream radio these days, that's not saying a whole lot. Shit, the best song from that album has to be that equally inevitable and moving cover of "Cat's in the Cradle".
And the best song at this concert by far is the equally heavy-riffed, dynamic, and melodic should-be singalong "Milkman' Son", seeing Crane wail with more power than at any other moment, and yours truly drowning out any other crowd member in attempting to keep up with him. And also, some of the most surprisingly masterful lyrics of the band's entire career:
"Let the burning bridges tumble down
Let the water come and flood the ground
Burn a hole into this auburn sky
I only wanna be walking by your side"
In fact, where are those other songs from that album? Songs like "God", "Clover", "V.I.P.", and "Jesus Rode a Harley"? And where is a potential crowd-jumper like "It's a Lie", or a potential arm-waver like "Would You Like To Be There?" from its ever-underrated follow-up?
UKJ are solid entertainers, and I'm rating them as such. But it's still saying a lot that their biggest hit, mandatory show-closer "Everything About You", is and always will be so flat-out dumb that I leave to prioritize getting a decent outdoor seat for the next beer break in between shows.
Rating: 4.5 out of 6
Genre: Hard rock / butt-rock
Venue: Jailbreak, outdoor stage
Date: Sat., Aug. 17th, 2024
Setlist:
- Intro
- That Ain't Livin'
- Neighbor
- Panhandlin' Prince
- No One Survives
- Goddamn Devil
- Devil's Paradise
- Cat's in the Cradle
- I'm Alright
- Milkman's Son
- Everything About You