chris cameron photo
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON JAN. 29, 1988
By Steve Newton
It didn’t have quite the flat-out crash ‘n’ burn effect of Aerosmith’s show five nights earlier, but the Rainmakers’ gig at the 86 Street Music Hall last Monday (January 25) did sport a fair amount of energy–most of it coming from the stage, and not the small crowd of 400 that showed up.
And if you’re into the rockingly righteous sounds of CCR, Tom Petty, and the Georgia Satellites, you probably should have been there as well.
The majority of the Kansas City band’s material on Monday was drawn from its self-titled 1986 LP and Tornado, the latest. On the former’s “Drinkin’ on the Job”, the Rainmakers threw in a Chipmunks-style version of John Fogerty’s “Rock and Roll Girls” and a bit of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” to get the crowd semi-riled up.
Lead singer Bob Walkenhorst spent a lot of time flailing his arms and leaping about the stage, and bassist Rich Ruth had the good sense to lay flat on his back, but their antics never really inflamed the crowd.
The audience did bring them back for a few encores, though, including a countryfied “Amazing Grace” and the New York Dolls’ “Stranded in the Jungle”.