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from:
The Last Web Site (Dan Nolte)
February
The Last @ Brennan's
Irish Pub
 It's
been a long time, but The Last finally played a show —
at Brennan's Irish Pub in Marina Del Rey, CA, supporting
Cockeyed Ghost. The turnout was very good. I was so happy
floating around the bar, running into so many faces from the
past. Among them were Gary Stewart of Rhino
Records (former Last manager), Dale Turkle (Earwigs),
Tom Underhill (former Last guitarist), Don Williams
(webmaster for Wednesday Week's site, and videographer
for numerous Last concerts in the '80s), Kelly Callan
(Wednesday Week — I'm sure Heidi was there,
too, but I didn't see her), Deanne Nolte (Joe's
ex-wife, who drove Joe's current girlfriend (and Last bassist)
Missy to tonight's show), Kevin Samera (Common
Thread Project), and so many others (but most especially
my old friend from grade school, Adam Gonzales, who I
haven't seen in 18 years)!
The Last played a great set,
especially considering they had only 2 rehearsals, and the fact
that the vocals could barely be heard (perhaps I was sitting
in a bad part of the bar, though). The lineup tonight was Joe
Nolte (of course), Mike Nolte (keyboards, vocals),
David Nolte (bass), Luke Lohnes (guitar), and Robbie
Rist (drums). They opened up with a strong version of "Bombing
of London," then paid homage to George Harrison with
the Beatles' "Don't Bother Me." A highlight
of the set was a very melodic version of the normally hardcore
"Go Away Girl." We'll have to get that version recorded.
A strong set was ended with a powerful version of "She Don't
Know Why I'm Here," much to the enthusiastic audience's
delight.
There was a nice blurb in the
LA Weekly announcing the show, thanks to Leaving Trains'
Falling James:
| While L.A.'s
late-'70s rivalry between pogoing punks and skinny-tied new-wavers
never matched the intensity of Britain's mods-vs.-rockers violence
in the mid-'60s — punks here were more threatened by the
very real prospect of LAPD beatings than by power-pop geeks —
the mutual contempt and bitter separation of the two scenes was
real, pointless as it seems now. The Last were one of a few groups
at the time — think Flaming Groovies, the Zippers or the
Real Kids — that could convincingly travel in both worlds,
aggressive enough to appear with punks like the Gears, the Avengers
and the Alley Cats, and melodic enough to fit in with 20/20 and
the Plimsouls. Even singer-guitarist Joe Nolte's angriest songs,
like the epic "Difference," which decries those police
riots, are infused with a diehard romantic's melodicism and layered
with ruefully pretty harmonies and 12-string-guitar jangle. Need
convincing? Ask Mike Watt, who recently covered the Last's proto-pop-punk
classic "She Don't Know Why I'm Here." |
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In
front of a clump of audio and video tapers and soon-to-be dancing
females, the frontline of the Last set up with Mike Nolte on
keyboards/background vocals, Joe on guitar and lead vocals and
David Nolte (also of the Dave Davies band) manning the bass.
The band started the set with the made-to-be-heard-live "Bombing
of London" and then paid tribute to George Harrison with
the Beatles' "Don't Bother Me." Despite the factors
of a sludgy bottom-end sound due to the bar's muffled sound system
and Joe's trademark 12-string Rickenbacker being under the weather,
the band charged through a valiant set. "Difference,"
"Looking at You" and "Take Care of Her" all
encompassed the band's distinctive ability to swerve between
the riveting raw and the engagingly elegant. Joe was quite the
animated frontman — who could launch into a '77 styled
sneer and then step back and gorgeously harmonize with his brother
Mike. For some sustained moments on Friday night, the background
dropped out, time became timeless and the Last was the only thing
that mattered.