Setlist: (as remembered, and in no particular order):

I've just this minute walked in from seeing Jesus Lizard and Bambi - I am hot, sweaty and amped, tell tale signs of a sreamin' good time! Ain't nothin' like good ol' American music to jar some life into an audience and that's exactly what both bands did. This show was so cool that when David Lambeth Yow exposed himself the bouncer was laughing, and if that's not a good sign I don't know what is (bouncers rarely like the shows they work and this clean cut boy certainly didn't look like he'd ever even heard of Jesus Lizard but he knew a worthy performance when he saw it).

Bambi opened with heavy, sometimes minimalistic (NOT that reprehensible 'indie' sound - perish the thought), hypnotic stuff. The very first notes of the first song were a teeny, tiny bit reminiscent of Joy Division, the impression aided by the epileptic-like, jerky convulsions of the lead singer who has some weirded out pelvic thrust down to a tee. It was almost as if he was a marionette in the hands of a sadistic puppeteer, but just when the whole thing came close to exposing choreography and contrivance he would jerk himself in a truly freakish way, thus reconfirming his authenticity. I swear I heard the opening riff of Mountain Song (Jane's Addiction) surreptitiously hidden behind a bit of noise but I don't begrudge them this trespass, rather I am impressed and believe it to be a sign of good influence. There were psychedelic keyboards, not wimpy, they were fuzzy, harsh, discordant notes and just another bonus. The drummer has to be noted for enthusiasm - he was pounding his little heart out and he looked it. I was able to make out only a few words and don't remember them anyway, but I got the feeling the singer would've been happy to disrobe given some encouragement (was it that hoodoo feeling or the pelvic thrusts?). They grooved, moved and made us jump and sway, but whatever 'it' was I liked it, I do like it and believe I have found a candidate for my permanent collection.

Man, man and double man was Jesus Lizard just what I've needed. I've felt mean all week and this mind blowing, noisy, frantic, grooving, mesmerising, right on music seems to have alleviated some of the angst, it was cathartic! The main man leaped his way into the hearts and arms of the crowd first thing and never stopped. There were a few stumbles, falls and figure skaterish poses that immobilised him momentarily, but it all simply served to make him more charming. Incessant spitting too, the man is a saliva machine, but again it was so fitting. I hate to admit it but I liked it, I thought it was perfect and just added to my pleasure and it gets better...he dropped his britches and pulled down his undies (or they fell down - the elastic looked dead)! His abandon is enviable and endearing, it's as simple as that - shows these days are rarely such a satisfying spectacle. The audience loved it and they loved the audience as evidenced by the singer's proclamation "You guys kick ass!" The music was loud, hard, rocking and on the side of the strange. I love a person who can make a guitar sound out of the ordinary and the David Byrne/Kyle MacLachlan looking hybrid of a guitar player did, but he also rocked and I can vouch that those of us in front (who had time to look around? I was transfixed.) appreciated it greatly.

I cannot do justice to the performance I was witness to this evening, but I can say it more than warranted the four song encore by Jesus Lizard and was the best I've seen in the year I've been here. Bambi gave a worthy prelude to the Kings of the Evening, but the Big Liz treated Dublin to a fine first time audience and kicked a little life into the music scene, if only for a few short hours. Even if one is usually put off by the forward, in-your-face-verging-on-exhibitionism-ways of us Americans, one cannot but admit that it makes for a helluva good show. It was music of my homeland that makes me proud to be an American and gives definitive proof that there is culture across the water, just on a different scale.