Roky Erickson

I traveled from central Vermont to see Roky Erickson. His music and life story have always moved me. That he has survived a very tough life with his willingness to carry on as a rock and roller intact, I find immensely inspiring. It was great to hear so many "old favorites," and kudos to the talented band for providing amazing support!

Roky Erickson concert was pathetic. Roky was helped on to the stage and sat in a chair the whole concert. Roky sang but his grandson did all the talking. The sound was loud and distorted you really could not tell who was singing or what song was being attempted. Looked to me like a money grab to take a famous relative on the road to make one last buck. The Duck Room is a basement with a bar. No chairs to sit. So we stood for three hours. I was totally disappointed in this experience at the Duck Room. At least the riot squad in the street in front of the Duck Room will make for an interesting story.

Roky and his band shook the TT the Bears from the first moment of the concert to the last. I could not stand still a single second, and that's how a punk rock concert should be watched in my opinion. But the most surprising thing was the reaction of the crowd. I have seen many show in this neighborhood and I've always bitched about how people in general do not feel the experience, just take photos, stand still and leave. This venue was packed, audience was so into Roky's music and every one was jumping up and down. Roky and the band was so powerful and crowd was feeling it.

Liked opening act Nude Beach. Roky and the Hounds of Baskerville were worth the trip. It's always great seeing Roky. His voice isn't what it used to be but he is part of rock history. Band was young, enthusiastic and pretty tight. Crowd was into it, singing along with all the tunes. Venue is a real dump. Dirty with bad sound. 5 stars for the music. 1 star for the venue.

Poor Roky can't play much anymore but his voice is still amazing. I think the rest of the band can use a little more work with the back up singing parts. There were a lot of times when I know there should have been someone singing and it was just the band playing. Overall I love Roky and I would see him again in a heart beat.

Roky tore down the El Rey Theater again. This band, the Night Beats, were well rehearsed and professional. Roky looked like he was enjoying the show and he didn't need notes to remember the words to the songs. He played guitar on all the songs too. His voice is still a powerful force but gave out right at the end. His son, Jegar, and the whole audience, pitched in and helped the old campaigner perform You're Gonna Miss Me.

I was introduced to Roky by my boyfriend and fell in love with his solo work. On a road trip we listened to a good portion of the 13th Floor Elevators discography and I fell in love again. To see someone who has been what he has been through in his life, and is still creating art just floored me.

Priceless! First time to my knowledge in his ~44 year career that Roky has played the east coast & Boston! Would love to see him again!! The Royale was a really classy venue (part Caesar's Palace, part medieval castle), in a nice area, with good / properly mixed sound!

What a grand concert.....!! Man, Roky is a genius. Best show I have seen in a long time.... Still hearing the music....

Set list was amazing and everything sounded incredible!!

2nd show in a row where the sound at the royale has been downright horrible. how they can get away charging what they charge and deliver vfw hall style sound is beyond me. But Roky was good, a bit out of it and they wheren't the tightest.. but an enjoyable show none the less.

great music, great visuals, but he was kind of out of it this night!

First of all, I really like seeing shows here - I think it's a great venue for a show, and the staff is always friendly (which is a rarity at a club), but I'll concentrate on Roky Erickson's set, since he was the headliner. The pros were that he was smartly backed up by a young, talented band. They pretty much cranked through his catalog of better-known songs, though I wish they would have done an acoustic (or stripped-down) set (maybe with "You Don't Love Me Yet"), though I think the crowd was there to see him sing about aliens and vampires (which kind of made me feel bad, almost like he was being exploited for that purpose, when he's much more than that.) One of the major problems was that, at least near the front of the stage, his vocals were more or less drowned out. From the back of the venue, however, they were much more discernable (though still a bit distored, though that may have been on purpose). Still, people were yelling at the kid manning the sound board (and he did look like a high school intern) to turn up his vocals, though if he was instructed to make things sound that way, then it wasn't his fault. It was great to see a legend though - as strange as it sounds, it was like seeing Brian Wilson nowadays. Both have gone through a lot, and somehow survived.

room was not great acoustically; Band was awesome.

Opening act "BOO FROG" from Portland were unsettling to listen to. Two Fender Twins with the treble cranked. A tinny Fender Mustang and a Tele attack with no bass player. WAY too loud and tinny. Vocal mix was muddy all night.....even when Roky came on. Roky's band was tight though. The Evil One can still crank it. Doors didn't open until nearly 8:30 and the opening act didn't come on until nearly 9:30. Roky Erickson didn't hit the stage until nearly 10:30. Don't advertise the show at 8:00 with no mention of a warm up and then have the headliner start nearly two and a half hours later......C'mon! Wonder Ballroom is a beautiful venue though.

Saw Roky this past Friday at The Wonder Ballroom in Portland, Oregon.. It was Roky Erickson... Amazing... The real man himself on stage performing to the best of his capabilities. He was spot on for the first 5 songs which included Cold Night For The Alligator.. It was inspiring to see him up on stage loving every minute of it.. Definitely worth every cent and more.. Even though he isn't all there; he still is Roky Erickson... I didn't go in there expecting a fantastic show... but the truth of the fact is that it is fantastic that he is out there performing again... Seeing Roky Erickson live in person performing the songs that helped create a genre was absolutely amazing... That alone will always stay with me.