Perpetrators break in new bassist

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Winnipeg blues-rock duo the Perpetrators made a long awaited return to Lethbridge, April 11 at the Slice.The Perpetrators’ Jay Nowicki. photo by Richard Amery


 The reinvigorated rockers including guitarist Vocalist Jay Nowicki and drummer Ken McMahon were just getting their road legs on this show, a quick Alberta  tour to break in new bassist John Scoles in preparation for a big European tour.

They blasted their way through three sets of Perpetrators classics, including much of their last studio CD “Tow Truck.” Nowicki scratched his battered red Telecaster like he was possessed by the ghost of Hound Dog Taylor.


He got things “Moving Right Along,”  then introduced bassist John Scoles and greeted the audience of about 25 people by playing “Happy Thursday,” a revved up version of “Happy Friday,” from “Tow Truck.” They ended their  first set with “Shake It,” a rocker from Jay Nowicki and Ken McMahon’s side project K Mac and Howik’s Punk Blues Funhouse which was amped up with Scoles’ throbbing bass.

The Perpetrators Jay Nowicki, Ken McMahon and John Scoles. Photo by Richard Amery
They also began their second set with Nowicki switching guitars and breaking out the slide for “She Loves Me,” then another revamped K Mac and Howik’s Punk Blues Funhouse song called “Smokes and Chicken,” which got most of the audience on their feet as more people trickled in from off the street.


 The played a tortured love song “She’s My Baby” then ended that set with “Josco,” a country song the Perpetrators wrote for John Scoles, who also runs  the Times Changed High and Lonesome Club In Winnipeg, which is Winnipeg’s equivalent to the Slice.


 By the time they began their third set, much of the audience had trickled away, but I’m glad I stayed as the kicked it off with a scorching version of  the Rolling Stones’ “Off The Hook,” then played some more energetic slide powered blues and ended with my favourite Perpetrators’ song “Six Pack.”

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 17 April 2013 12:32 )