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It was time again for the annual New Years Eve-Eve show by Mojo Nixon in Houston, TX. Those of you who read last year's review of this show are aware of the insanity that takes place during a Mojo Nixon set. This year's show took place at The Continental Club which is owned by Mojo's pianist, Pete "Wetdawg" Gordon. The opening band for this show was Houston's own country-rock artist, Beaver Nelson. For this show we had a goal, the goal was to set the new
record for most liquor sales at the Continental Club, I think we did it.
It was a nice cold evening here in Houston and we were all excited to see the show. I had never heard Beaver Nelson, but I had heard some great things about him. When we arrived, Beaver had just started, and from the first few lines I heard, I got into the Beaver groove. He was a good mix of country, rock, and some folk. The best part of his set was when Wetdawg played a few songs with Beaver. The addition of the piano gave a nice touch to the set. It gave an almost Van Morrison edge to some of the songs. I walked away from this show with a high opinion of Beaver Nelson, and a strong desire to see him again.
Beaver played a great set, but the night belonged to Mojo Nixon, as most nights do. This year's set was great. He started with the staple, "Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant With My 2 Headed Luv Child" which was received very well. He also took time out in the song to mash on the Backstreet Boys and N*Sync, then added a new name to the song as he sang "Ricky Martin is a panty waist!" He also took a chance during that song to take a stab at the presidential election. As he said, "Instead of a runoff, they should have had a dick measuring contest, and it'd have been another Nixon in the White House!!" As soon as that song ended Mojo told us how his wife, "the bride of Mojo" was present at the show. He then told us her influence in his life led him to write a nice John Denver-ish style love song. This song ended up being "Louisiana Liplock". It was great because everyone joined in singing the song without being cued. It was fun to be there with everyone yelling "She put a Louisiana liplock on my love porkchop!" Then he went into a story in the breakdown about how him and his wife were in the act of "breaking in the new rug" when his son came home early from his girlfriend's house. A lot of Mojo's set is stories and sing-a-longs which help extend the normal 3 minute Mojo song into a 10-minute tale of life, drinking, and fucking.
The night moved on really strong. Mojo ripped through songs like "Tie My Pecker To My Leg" and "Drunk Divorced Floozie" which as usual led to some people giving strange looks and some being disgusted by the fact that Mojo would bash Princess Diana by calling her a "Drunk Divorced Floozie". I for one love the song and hold it in high reguards. They then also played one of my favorite songs, "The Poontango". This song is funny, and also displays the guitar playing ability of Mojo Nixon. The explanation of the song is best summarized by the way Mojo begins the song. "In the beginning, God made the poontang, and God made the tango, and only I, Mojo Nixon, after being up 5 days straight on a speed frenzy saw the relation and put them together to give us the POONTANGO!" This was a very fun song to listen to and dance to. "She's Vibrator Dependant" was the funniest song of the night. Mojo has a great way of telling about how his wife doesn't touch him since she got her vibrators, and how he'll do anything to "put my brutally handsome face back in the special place." And the only way to accomplish that was to go out and get her VIBRATORZILLA!!! Needless to saw everyone was singing along, and laugh their asses off. Then Mojo told as his wife informed him it was THAT time of the month, but he could put his face in the special place, and then as he looked into the crowd, he told us this, "I went where no man had gone before. I didn't care if I came back with ring around the face, I put my face back in the special place."
The first set came to a close with "You Can't Kill Me" which is a great track about the undying soul of rock n' roll. It was great to hear everyone singing along, "You can't kill me, I will not die. Not now, not ever, no never!! I'm gonna live a long, long time. My soul lives on forever." This song lead to a quick look at George W. Bush, in which Mojo told everyone why he didn't care for him. This was summarized in this, "He was a cheerleader in high school, he never shared any coke with me, and he stopped drinking which makes him a quitter, and my daddy didn't raise no quitter!!" Then with no break, Mojo went into "Elvis Is Everywhere" which got a huge reaction. Everyone sang along and got totally into it as the final song was played.
After a few minutes of chanting for Mojo's return he came back for two more songs. The first was a Replacements cover, "Can't Hardly Wait" which he did with Beaver Nelson who did lead vocals on the song. It was a great thing to see a the opener and headliner got down and jammed a great song for everyone who attended. The final song of the night was played for everyone who helped in the goal of setting the new drinking record for the Continental Club. The song was "Beer Ain't Drinking", which was off the hook. The entire band got totally insane, and the added backup vocals of bassist, Earl B. Freedom, made the song fun. It was a great night of fun capped off by a huge bar tab, and a great feeling of joy. Mojo once again pulled off a great show that left everyone counting the days to next year!
Samuel Barker is Senior Editor. Contact him at suma@rockzone.com.
