Bughouse Five Rolls Back The Clock For A Scorching Set At The Pic
Vancouver
May 8, 2000
Walking through the doors at the Picadilly Pub this Saturday night was a step back in time as local rockabilly legends Bughouse Five returned us to a simpler age when people knew how to dance and cool was a way of life.
 The Rocket Fins opened the show with a tight, well paced set that lit up the crowd of well dressed greasers and polka dotted dolls like a post war new years bash. Dual guitars and a well balanced rhythm section (great female drummer and rock solid upright bass) kept the heat on as the dance floor swarmed to a full on swing fest.
 Vocalist Jada Stark took the mike midway through the set and offered up several well balanced songs including a surfer tune that got the room reeling with a vibe right out of Pulp Fiction.
By the time Bughouse took the stage it was standing room only and the volume of hair grease and cigarette smoke in the air far outweighed oxygen content. Not that it mattered. This being frontman Butch "Big Boy" Murphy's birthday and all...
Bughouse has a reserved, tightly wound kind of energy that gets into your bones with the sneaking suspicion that there's gonna be a gut busting explosion at any moment. And they deliver. Cold cocking you just as you're minding your own business and reaching for your drink.
 Butch has a large presence on stage, twitching and shimmying round the mike like a mystic with parkinsons. Some pretty big vocals too, great depth and a nice crispness that brings out the lyric.
The band was rock solid with Jeremy Holmes laying down the law on double bass, Taylor Little on drums and Scott Smith taking the high ground on guitar.
All in all, a fine night's entertainment and worthy of your best girl. Almost makes me want to go right out and pick up a quart of Brillo Creme.
Almost.
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