SHOW IS NOT HAPPENING (technically it's been moved to October)
Seems like every time I go into the city these days, whether I'm at LanaLou's or the Rickshaw or Red Cat or the Heatley or any other East Van destination, at some point in my travels, I will look up from what I'm doing and see Chopper going by on his bicycle. This time it was at Main and 21st -- I'd popped over from Khats to see the Riverdans (and sing along with "Barrett's Privateers," which was every bit as awesome as the last time I saw them do it; they do Stan proud. I was too busy singing along to shoot it). And there goes Chopper, peddling leisurely by (Chopper may at some point hurry but I have never seen it).
So I chased after him.
I mean, I don't want to be a pest, but I almost always say hi, if I'm not otherwise engaged, because, y'know, the Deadcats, his most known band, were a group I kind of took for granted. I saw them at least twice -- once at the Niagara, once at the Rickshaw. I didn't even know Mick Tupelo of the band had died (in 2019) until years after the fact (2023?). I think I learned about that at a Tequila Bats show at Lana's (though I've also seen Chopper with the Saucermen once, too -- he has a couple of bands he does his thing with). Realizing that I was never going to see them again, I grabbed the next Deadcats CD I saw, Look Like Hell (check out their loopy little promo for it, or one of the songs that made it to Youtube) -- and of course, I was delighted.
I'm not really a psychobilly kind of guy, mind you -- or a surf kind of guy, or a garage kind of guy, or even a rockabilly kind of guy -- which is partially why I took them kinda for granted -- but it turns out, the Deadcats were goddamn good at what they did.
Deadcats, Chopper at the right, lifted from this Clay Holmes vid
So having corralled Chopper, I asked him what he had planned for this Thursday's show at the Cobalt, where he'll be opening for Cawama, who are mostly a surf band, but are known to occasionally whip out a cover of the Dead Kennedys "Too Drunk to Fuck." Note that the Chopper portion of the evening will be a totally solo set; This Week in Van is describing it a s Chopper and the Saucermen gig, which I guess they're getting from a slightly Saucermen-heavy Showpass blurb (which does say he's flying solo, but whoever wrote that piece goes a bit off the rails about the Saucermen... there is no album coming out, for instance... at least not according to my source, who is seated at the drumkit, below...!).
Anyhow, for clarity, I have communed with the Saucermen and confirmed that this is not a Saucermen show. This is Chopper solo set. Prior to a Cawama set. I did not have any great questions (and I didn't want to hold him up, so this was fast-and-loose, y'know?). But here:
ALLAN: What are you gonna do, opening for Cawama?
CHOPPER: What am I gonna do? Are you recording? Ohhh! Hey, ho! Hello, telephone! Heheheh.
ALLAN: Heheheh.
CHOPPER: I am gonna do "Yangtze River Surfer" and I am gonna do this other ditty which I don't remember the name of, and I might do, oh yeah, "Comanche" by Link Wray. And some other ditties. Maybe a few Reverberators songs. "My Old Saddle" amongst them. I'm not sure.
ALLAN: But overall surf!
CHOPPER: Oh yeah, or, ehrmm, instrumental rock or country or other MOR, middle-of-the-road, with a wide piece of white line so you can stay in the middle and you can miss all the cars so they don't hit you with doors when you're riding by on your bicycle.
ALLAN: Hold that thought, I have one question: do you ever do Deadcats songs, solo?
CHOPPER: Ooh, that's a thought. I hadn't thought about that. I could go through my library and see what I can come up with. I might be able to! Yeah!
ALLAN: When do you go on?
CHOPPER: Probably about 8:30, I'm guessing. If you're there by 8:30 you should catch me. I just play the opening set, and then Cawama comes on after that.
ALLAN: Any connections with Cawama?
CHOPPER: Well, I've played a couple of shows with them, twice at the Painted Ship. I think that's the only shows we've played with them, with Chopper and the Saucermen.
ALLAN: But this is a solo set?
CHOPPER: Yeah, it's just me! The other guys couldn't make it because they're too busy; it's a weeknight! They gotta work. You gotta work twice as hard to get half as much, these days, y'know what I mean?
Note: advance tickets are cheaper than tickets at the door, fwiw! 917 Main, Thursday night!
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