Everyone in attendance at the triumphant Roky Erickson show last night at the El Rey in Los Angeles surely went home with their faith in miracles fully restored. Roky was in excellent voice (and spirits), his band (according to the venue, The Explosives; according to Roky, Evilhook Wildlife E.T.) shook the house to the ground. The rabid audience couldn't get enough, stomping, cheering and singing along with a healthy selection of bona fide Roky classics. I don't think I'd ever heard Roky backed by pedal steel before, but the added dimension it brought to all the numbers made me wonder why I hadn't. Afterwards Roky stuck around to meet admirers and sign records, thereby making multiple dreams come true in one night for lucky fans. It was an incredible evening.
Here's hoping these performances are being recorded for later release, especially the El Rey show; last night's flawless concert buries the recording I heard of his show in Norway from earlier this month (currently circulating the web in unauthorized form) and the handful of 2007 clips on YouTube don't even come close.
While the recently-released Roky doc YOU'RE GONNA MISS ME is well worth a look, here's a favorite clip of acoustic Roky singing the lovely "Right Track Now" from the short documentary MEETING WITH AN ALIEN (c. 1980):
(FYI, the video continues three minutes after the song stops; you won't miss anything cutting it off after 2:38 or so.)
