Be Here Now is on schedule to feature some dirty, nasty, raw and no frills rock ‘n’ roll Saturday evening, with the likes of Mutts, BobReuter’s Alley Ghost and Royal Son of a Guns.
Mutts, a group from Chicago, made a stop at Be Here Now in September. Mike Maimone, vocalist and keyboardist of the band, is expecting the same positive vibes the group encountered the first time.
“It’s cool walking into a situation where we have no idea what to expect and then finding great hospitality,” Maimonesaid. “Everybody was really welcoming.”
The band will play tunes from its recent release, “Separation Anxiety,” as well as other songs from its discography.
The sound of Mutts encompasses areas such as surreal psychedelic-rock, rough-and-tumble garage rock and everywhere in-between. The band’s influences range from artists such as Elliott Smith to Tom Waits to Nirvana.
Maimone said these other artists “hit our various filters in different ways, and we soak them up and spit them back out.”
Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost shares a similar musical outlook with Mutts, especially with the eclectic rock ‘n’ roll sub-genres.
Bob Reuter, leader of the band, describes the sound as a “weird cross between The Ramones, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bob Dylan and The Sonics.”
“And we rock it like hell,” Reuter said.
Reuter has been making this sort of music in his hometown of St. Louis since the 1960s, and he shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon with his recently released record, “Born There,” on Muddy Waters Records.
“I’m planning on dying doing this,” Reuter said. “If Muddy Waters could do it, I don’t see why I can’t.”
Rounding out the bill will be Royal Son of a Guns.
Influenced by acts ranging from Black Sabbath to Johnny Cash, Royal Son of a Guns tackles a lo-fi, acid folk sound with a little bit of blues.
The band is described on its Facebook as “Bela Lugosi meets a mechanical bull,” and “primitive guitars, relentless rat-a-tat washboard and a bedrock of bass guitar that will rattle your teeth.”
Saturday’s show will also feature Saint Dismas, a local DJ, in between each band’s set.
Who: Mutts, Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost, Royal Son of a Guns
Where: Be Here Now
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
