Show Review: Cruelster / Lumpy & The Dumpers / Citric Dummies / Bad Noids at Now That’s Class, 10/26

Typically, I do not do show reviews, but I decided to make a special exception for this particular show. 

I arrived too late to see Bad Noids, because in an unexpected turn of events, apparently things did start promptly at 10 PM. Citric Dummies, who are from Minneapolis, were pretty good. Very Minneapolis-sounding, but I have their records (which feature wonderful artwork from local artist Nathan Ward) and know that they don’t care who they sound like, so I’ll say no more. It was an entertaining set, though. Good songs and good stage banter. I liked when half the crowd left after a joke about “this is the last song.” It wasn’t the last song. The sound was actually pretty good the whole night, likely due to Paul Mac at the board. 

Lumpy & The Dumpers, for whom this show was their second to last, were very good as well. Their records are pretty decent but live they were especially good. I suspect, though I’m just an idiot journalist so what do I know, that the fact that it was one of their last shows, made them really deliver. Kind of a “better make it a good one because these people won’t see it again” thing, ya know? They did all the hits except for “Huff My Sack” and they got a good crowd singalong going during “I Was A Teenage Bozo.” Too many fireworks, though. This isn’t the band’s fault by any means. I do think it’s pretty stupid. More on this in the following paragraph. 

Obviously, the main draw for me, noted Cruelster fan, was the return of Cruelster. Lead vocalist Yes Yes has recently returned to the States from China, where he was studying wind turbines or something, I never quite figured it out, and lead drummer Kid Gone Crazy was briefly back in town from Australia, where he’s probably already in at least three bands with that guy from Ausmuteants. A very special show indeed. Cruelster were really at the top of their game, I thought. I saw their “farewell” show last year and while of course I thought it was great (even though they did not honor my request to play “Crisis In Local Government Pt. II”), they were very, very sloppy and unpracticed. Not so here. They played the hits, they played some from the new record, they played all you could ever desire. At some point, unfortunately, I guess someone stole the mic cable or something (“Give him back the string,” said Piss from the stage, which apparently did not lead to the string being returned) and Yes Yes had to take Runt’s microphone for the rest of the performance, but aside from that all was well. Back to the fireworks for a minute: it’s stupid. Nathan really hit the nail on the head when he was saying, “Oh, it’s so cool! It’s like the ‘90s! We’re like 9 Shocks!” I’m not actually here to blab about how people who set off fireworks at Cleveland punk shows are complete morons, however, so I’ll stop here. Cruelster finished their set with a song that sounded very familiar, though I couldn’t place it. I’m pretty sure it was a cover and not one of their songs, but I don’t know. Then, Lumpy & The Dumpers came back up and the assembled supergroup played what I was told was a Misfits cover. 

In summation, what a night! Cruelster alone had one of the best sets I’ve seen all year (tied probably only with Nick Lowe), but the other two bands were also pretty great. Wholly a very good show. If you missed it, you have no excuse.