Surf City Serves Up a Hot Show

It was a dark and stormy night. A shot rang out. A maiden screamed.  No—stop. 

It was a dark and painfully hot, humid night. A drum cymbal crashed.  A maiden screamed. Yeah, that’s more like it.

It was about 150 degrees. Just kidding, although it sure felt like it. I felt it was imperative to be indoors and having a cold brew, so I made my maiden voyage to , the Perry Hall club along Belair Road, to see some old friends.

The special included shows from three bands for $7, a real deal. After navigating my way through the lower level and making my way through the first bar, past the karaoke singers, around the corner, down the hallway, to the doorkeeper and up the stairway, I made it into the darkened upper rock room of the club. It felt a little like the backroom at Max’s Kansas City—the inner sanctum where the real action happens.

The room was very dark, with a bar in the back and very cool Thunder Dome posters ringing the room. The stage was at the far end of the room with a decent sound system. Just ask my ears. They were still ringing two days later.

Lords of Rosedale, Kill Betty and One Way Bullet were the entertainment.

The last time I saw the boys of Kill Betty, three of them were in a groovy funk band called Betty in Black. Hailing from Westminster, those lads traveled a good way to set this Perry Hall club on fire. 

The Lords of Rosedale warmed up the crowd with tunes from the Cult, Led Zeppelin and Ronnie James Dio, among others. After an hour, they loaded out their equipment. Kill Betty began their setup and the crowd, which had begun to multiply, began to hum with anticipation.

Kill Betty includes Matt Bowers on the kit, Mike Semies on guitar and vocals, John Urbanski on bass and Todd Zeller on lead guitar. These boys are all about the rock 'n' roll. You know, dirty rock with tatoos, gritty guitar leads, booty shakin’ bass lines and catchy hook lines sung in a seductive rock voice.

They covered "Tatoos of Whiskey," "The Way You Are," "Precious Memories," "Better Off Dead," "Crazy" (you can still request this on 98Rock), "Long Gone," "Crumble," "Falling Down," "Drive Me Insane" and "Watch This Burn." It is always hard to describe what a band sounds like, but let’s say if you like Soundgarden, Guns N' Roses or LA Guns, you’ll dig Kill Betty.

These singers and guitarists know how to work the stage. They don’t just stand there. I want to be, rather, I need to be entertained! Semies, at first, appeared to have a hard time struting his stuff on such a small stage. Guitarist Zeller, slinging his black Les Paul—he looks like a taller version of Mick Ronson—laid down some strong licks. Urbanski, on a fretted four-string bass, beat the heck out of his hot red axe. And Bowers—well, rock drummers don’t get any better at kicking out the jams. The place was nice and steamy after the hour set and it was great to catch up with some blasts from the past. 

Now that I've broken the seal, I will definitely be back at Surf City to soak up the atmosphere and to hear some good ol' rock 'n' roll. There are a lot of events going on there, including a Battle of the Bands on Thursday nights. 

As for Kill Betty, look for them at the Recher Theater on Aug. 26 and keep on rocking, my friends!