Big Head Todd without his Monsters

This afternoon Big Head Todd was without his Monsters. They were getting set up for their concert that evening in the McMenamins’ Crystal Ballroom where Glenda was going to see them (I hope she will write a blog about that performance). I got to see Big Head Todd in the Bing Lounge, courtesy of KINK radio. The Bing Lounge, for those not in the know, is where KINK provides what they call organic music for the Portland area. Many musicians are invited to play here, where they are recorded, videoed and interviewed for replay on KINK daily radio programming. Members of the KINK community are invited to attend for free and hear many of these groups in a very unique setting. Seating just 164 people, with additional standing room, you feel very up close and personal with the artists. In the past, I have sat in the front row, just feet away from Imelda May and other artists. Today, for Big Head Todd, I had standing room only tickets but still got to enjoy a great one-man show and interview.

Big Head Todd goes back to 1986, when he formed his group. They attended Columbine High School. They started to tour in 1987 and produced their first record in 1989. This evening they are performing a complete album – Sister Sweetly, which was first recorded in 1993. Inessa, the interviewer from KINK asked them about this. Todd answered that it was a very good album and yes it was quite rare for any band to produce a whole album that was worth listening to. That caused a lot of laughter within the audience.

Todd’s music is part blues, part rock and total passion. He lives his music and it shows through in his performance. He talked about many of the great blues musicians he has played with in his time and it was clear that every member of the audience was impressed. I hope he wowed them as much at the Crystal. He finished his set with “I’m Sexy and I know it”. He said that his son said he should play it and at the end Inessa agreed saying “Yes you are!”

Brought to you by Brian Bailey

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