Adam Kates and I found out the same way, on the same night, that Deadcats guitarist/ bassist/ vocalist Mick Tupelo (in the right rear of the top photo) had passed: we were at LanaLou's, a few years ago, for a show that involved Tequila Bats, one of Orchard Pinkish's many humourous country projects, with another former Deadcat on guitar (Chopper, in the left foreground below). Adam told Chopper that he had some photographs of the Deadcats from 20-odd years back -- which you see below; Kates thinks they were taken at the Pic, maybe circa 2002. That was when we found out that Mick Tupelo had died in 2019.
Deadcats early 2000s at the Picadilly Pub, by Adam Kates, not to be reused without permission
I had seen the Deadcats at least twice. One, in passing, at the Niagara, which used to be a live music venue with a super-cool neon sign (destroyed by Ramada, but immortalized, if memory serves, in Hard Core Logo). I was going in there for some other reason, and the band were playing, and I stopped and checked them out and was most impressed, particularly remembering Scooter (on the washtub bass above) having a fun, tinted hairstyle that night -- a look that stuck, as did their overall style and vibe. The next time I caught them was at the Rickshaw some years later, in a bill with Swank and the Nervous Fellas in 2009. I covered the story for the Skinny magazine and was a bit of a bitch about it (which I would hear about from Butch of the Fellas later, giving him my mea culpla: I coulda been more respectful! I had more attitude in my writing in those days).So based on Chopper's news, it sounded like we'd never see the Deadcats again, which both Adam and I were bummed about, because Look Like Hell!, their final album, from 2009, is actually really fun. It's the disc of theirs you're most likely to find around town, though it isn't plentiful these days (sadly, Gord "Gorehound" Smithers of the band reports that Mick had been the merch guy, so there won't be any vintage merch at the show on Friday).
Fact is, I didn't really know much about the band: and certainly not that I had seen Mick Tupelo, under his real name, Mike Dennis, had performed at the first-ever punk show I attended, as the founding member of the Bill of Rights. All that same up when researching the Straight feature I wrote about the band's second-ever reunion gig since Tupelo passed, happening this Friday at LanaLou's. I did know that Bev Davies had been an item with Rick Knott of the Bill of Rights, and that she had a photo of them onstage with me in it, back in October of 1984, since I'd previously posted it here.
Anyhow, those details worked their way into the article. I should clarify that Gord Smithers, the Deadcat that I ended up interviewing was only on the band's first and last albums, since that detail gets a bit fudged in my press to one-up John Lucas.
Also note -- the gig poster says the Petty Larceneers will play, but they had to drop off the bill; Smithers tells me that Alberta band Run the Plank (featuring Kermit Von Munster and Aaron Rose, doing double-duty that night as the Deadcats' rhythm section) will be the only opener (we believe Evil Norton Niels will just be singing with the Deadcats?). Happy to have a chance to see the band again, and to show the world Adam's photos (I interviewed Kates about his punk rock history, and showed a few other of his photos, here). Thanks go to Jess Templeton for pointing me at PhotoScape (freeware that is a bit tricky to download, since every page you find has malware links on them, but the Photoscape X one worked). The photos cleaned up pretty darn good, I thought!
Also note that Smithers also said (but it didn't make the cut) that if the band continues without Kermit, they'll be doing so under a different name.
So there's a gig to be at on Friday! More info here...
