Viagra Boys Bring Chaos to Seattle
“Have you ever been to a Viagra Boys show before? It’s going to get pretty crazy…” were the first words my friend said to me when we ran into each other at the Crocodile last week. Something about the way he said it made me immediately defensive. Look, I’ve been to shows. I’ve been to rowdy shows! I can handle “crazy.”
We were so excited to hear tracks from their second album, Welfare Jazz, released last year. The talented, Kills Birds, warmed up the crowd playing an energetic set. They played tunes from their eponymous album and shared a few new singles. The band has received much praise from the industry, including the support of Dave Grohl, who has been raving about them. We can see why after seeing them play, great new discovery.
My friend had a point though. Front man Sebastian Murphy immediately stripped his shirt off upon arrival before launching into “Research Chemicals,” from Viagra Boys’ 2016 EP, Consistency of energy. A single black lace thong was slung through the air and landed at the front of the stage where it would remain until the very last note of the encore. A (hopefully unused) condom hit me in the shoulder. About halfway through their set, they gave us a taste of a future release, Cave World, and played a new song, “Ain’t No Thief.” I don’t know if I’ve ever felt such palpable energy from a crowd as I did here; they were an extraordinarily rowdy bunch who thrashed through the entirety of the set.
Viagra Boys has a certain abrasive whimsy in their music in that none of it takes itself too seriously. This lends itself well to Murphy’s performance – the heavily tattooed front man spent the evening with no shirt but was sporting a cow-print cowboy hat borrowed from an eager fan. He spent several minutes on the ground sipping from one of two Modelo cans previously at his feet. The whole night felt like watching a close friend’s band rather than an internationally touring Swedish band who hasn’t been to Seattle in two years…in the best way.
Words/Photos: Collene McCarter
