Show Review: Here Come the Mummies

July 16th
Iroquois Ampitheater, Louisville, KY


Last night at Iroquois Amphitheater...it felt like sensory overload as Here Come the Mummies tore through a nearly two hour set.

Photo courtesy of WQMF

Coming as part of the WQMF 30 Anniversary Concert Series, the hilarious funk, soul, R&B group set the whole place on fire.  Best known for their appearances on Bob & Tom radio show, Here Come the Mummies are a spectacle to behold that is nearly impossible to describe.

Photo courtesy of WQMF

Legend has that the nine members of the band are highly sought after Nashville studio musicians who have played on records by the biggest stars in the industry - and supposedly between them they have countless Grammys.  And since most of them are probably under contract with different record labels, they perform with Here Come the Mummies under stage names and in disguise.  And by disguise, they always perform literally wrapped from head-to-toe in mummy costumes, as they shred through their albums.

After marching through the audience with a drumline, they took the stage and opened their nearly two hour set with "Believe (in things you cannot see)".  And if you've never seen these guys...believe me when I say you won't believe what you see.

Overall the music is cheeky.  With albums like Single Entendre and Carnal Carnival, each filled by songs peppered with lighthearted sexual innuendo that harkens back to the heyday of the genres their spoofing.  However, the song titles are somewhat less subtle than the album titles with names like "Libido Knievel", "Attack of the Weiner Man", and "Walk of Shame".

Photo courtesy of WQMF

But beyond the novelty of seeing nine mummies on stage with instruments; and beyond the hilarious sexual innuendos; you can't deny the music itself.  Technically speaking, these guys are as good of a show as you're ever going to see.  A spectacular horn section that would make the Stax horns blush, and soulful voices that throwback to artists like James Brown and Al Green.  And like their musical heroes, the level of energy these guys reach and maintain on-stage is nothing less than astonishing.  And as hot as it was outside last night, underneath stage lights, and wrapped in bandages, I have no idea how they didn't fall over in heat stroke.

The explosive show is a feast for the eyes and ears - complete with literal "freak flags", cow belts (yes, belts not bells - you just have to see it), and even a Sphinx-humping saxophone player.  You'll laugh, you'll be blown away - and at the end of it all you will walk away amazed.

The only drawback was opening act Tailor Made Fable.  The quartet from Quebec took themselves way too seriously while opening a show for a bunch of horny mummies.  It was a lot of wailing and posturing toward pretension.  The next time Here Come the Mummies are in town...I vote for Eddie and the Fuck Monkeys to open the show, that is a match made in heaven.