Program Notes

New Times October 17, 1986 

You want big-hair music, Phoenix, you got big-hair music – and tempers are still flaring the week about the rinse job GENE LOVES JEZEBEL gave a capacity crowd last Saturday at the Metro. Sibling crooners MICHAEL and J. ASTON – also known as the Twinkie Twins thanks to their soft-in-the-middle sound – thumbed their powdered noses at a packed house, leaving scores of concertgoers steamed and the club owners miffed. “The band totally wimped out on a sold-out audience,” charges Metro boss TONY VICTOR, who angrily notes that the limey contingent played for only half an hour before slipping out the back door into a waiting station wagon. The band’s contract, the promoter claims, called for a full hour of music. 

Leaving early wasn’t all the identical twins did to insult their legions of local fans, some of whom reportedly paid scalpers up to $35 for tickets. The pretty boys didn’t even bother to speak to the audience from the stage, effectively snubbing the 650 faithful who were shoehorned into the midtown club. “They didn’t say good-by or anything,” recalls one distraught observer. 

“The crowd didn’t know what to think and I still don’t know what to think,” adds Victor. “It’s the first time we had a sold-out show, and then the band spits on us.” Just why the British clones pulled their disappearing act is unsure. Victor guesses atmosphere in the sweaty concert hall. 

“They came in and said it was ‘hot and smoky,’” recalls Victor, who admits that the large number of bodies jammed into the club did raise the temperature, and that, in the low-ceilinged main room, “smoke doesn’t have a whole lot of places to go.” Even so, he adds, “if that was their reason for leaving, it seems to be a pretty wimpy attitude for a rock ‘n’ roll band. TSOL played one and a half hours to a sold-out (Metro) crowd.” 

It could just be that, faced with one of the biggest best publicized (thanks to Key-100) shows of its career, Gene Loves Jezebel broke down and showed it’s true colors. And after being dumped on by their idols, perhaps the group’s fans will now recognize the Twinkie Twins for what they are; a couple of overrated cream puffs who wouldn’t know a good song if it crawled down their throat and died. 

 

 

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