Reverend Horton Heat’s Psychobilly Revival

Reverend Horton Heat W/ Wayne “The Train” Hancock
The County Line Saloon
October 23, Melbourne, FL

The Reverend Horton Heat brought his legendary psychobilly freakout show to Melbourne, and did not disappoint. Along with Jimbo
Jim Heath, Better known as Reverend Horton Heat, along with Jimbo Wallace, his bassist since 1989, and drummer Scott Churilla; Jim Heath, the more modest given name of the right Rev., delivered two hours of exceptional Texas styled rockabilly crossed with, well, everything.

Local Act Super Swamper got the party started. Then Wayne “The Train” Hancock performed with a trio of Zach Sweeney on lead guitar, and Jim Karrow on Standup Bass. They served up equal portions tradiotionl country and western swing, with songs about hard knocks and bad luck. Standout tracks included “Thunderstorms and Neon Signs,” and “Viper of Melody,”

When Reverend Horton Heat took the stage the show started off by running down tracks from the bands albums chronologically. Songs from the entire catalog were represented. “The Devils Chasing Me,” “Martini Time,” and “ Bales of Cocaine” were all rolled out.
Heath took a moment to reflect on how his own personal tastes in American culture ranged primarily from the 1930’s to 1965. “From surf guitar to western swing. You know, there’s something I love about country music from back then. Most people playing what’s now called country wouldn’t know how to play a country lick.” He went on to praise Wayne Hancock as one of his favorite songwriters.
And it was then that Hancock and his guitarist, the baby faced, and nimble finger Zach Sweeney joined the headliners and performed, “Walking Blues” and the Hank Williams classic, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry.”

Hancock dedicated the last song to his not quite ex-wife, whom he said, “I still love, but that whole thing, it’s just dead.”
Rev, Heat and Co. continued on for another thirty minutes, positively tearing through the remainder of the set. Nothing felt as though it was a band on auto pilot, simply going through the motions. They positively killed it and made it look easy too.