Purple Fang

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through to this thing called life…” singer/guitarist Scott Carney began, as he opened Wax Fang’s encore performance of Prince’s Purple Rain album last night at Zanzabar.

Wax Fang is a band that is certainly more talented and more likable than they probably know, and if nothing else they proved that last night. The very idea of them performing the album in its entirety was enough to get the local music scene abuzz when it was announced they would play it after Thunder Over Louisville on April 17^th.

That show went so well, and so many missed it, thankfully the guys rehashed the performance last night so a few more lucky souls could catch it.

Musically speaking, Wax Fang with the help of Dave Cronin on keyboards, and multi-instrumentalist/back-up vocalist D.W. Box, did a fairly true to form, and straight forward performance of the nine songs that make up Prince’s 1984 masterpiece.

From the spoken word intro to “Let’s Go Crazy” all the way through to the raucous finale of the song “Purple Rain” (their version of which is so near perfection it’s almost a painful listen) the group was in top form. Their renditions of “Take Me With U”, “Darling Nikki”, and “I Would Die 4 U” really let the band spread their wings enough to put their own spin on these classic songs, while staying true The Purple One’s original vision.

Now, Wax Fang doing a brilliant musical performance is hardly surprising to anyone who’s ever seen these guys before; however, I must say the costumes did take me by surprise. The band was decked out with each member playing their corresponding role in the original line-up of Prince & The Revolution. Carney of course wore Prince’s trademark purple tuxedo and floppy ruffled shirt of the era – while drummer Kevin Ratterman dressed in drag as Sheila E. Their period wigs and fake mustaches just added a cheeky sense of the absurd that made the performance of such timeless music seem all the more surreal.

If you want to see Wax Fang (“Princed-out” or not) they will be in England for the entire month of May celebrating the UK release of their phenomenal La La Land on May 10^th. The album will also be getting a US vinyl release on May 11^th through Absolutely Kosher Records.