The Brian Setzer Orchestra Preview

The Brian Setzer Orchestra
House Of Blues, Chicago
Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Way back in March IE did a Stage Buzz on former Stray Cat Lee Rocker when he played FitzGerald’s in support of his most recent solo release, Racin’. Like TV and radio stations obligated to give political candidates equal time, IE feels the same about former Stray Cats.

It’s not like Setzer really needs the publicity, is it? Since The Cats broke up in 1985 (they regrouped for various reunions in the ’90s) Setzer never disappeared from the public’s eye. Whether it was concentrating on swing with The Brian Setzer Orchestra or straightforward rockabilly with his trio, Setzer is still an album-selling, concert-drawing attraction, impressive when you consider The Stray Cats’ borderline novelty status when they revived rockabilly in the ’80s. Setzer scored a monster hit, “Jump Jive ‘an Wail,” in 1998 and to this day his albums still consistently land in the Billboard Top 200 (last year’s Dig That Crazy Christmas peaked at number 56).

There might not be any better proof of Setzer’s like-a-rock career than 13 (Surfdog), titled so because it is Setzer’s 13th album of new material! The album is a hodgepodge of all the stuff Setzer loves: blues, rockabilly (Stray Cat drummer Slim Phantom guests on “Really Rockabilly), swing, pop, hard rock, even some Japanese pop. Keep in mind, though, Setzer’s stop in Chicago is part of his fifth annual Christmas Extravaganza. Stray Cat and Setzer staples will be part of the show but the night will mostly consist of material from BSO holiday records Dig That Crazy Christmas and Boogie Woogie Christmas.

— Trevor Fisher

Category: Stage Buzz, Weekly