Fiddleworms Had the Whole House Shimmying

Here’s how “Muscle Shoals Meets the 80s” went down, Part 6: Fiddleworms had the whole house shimmying

It’s been 11 days since we shimmied it out at the “Muscle Shoals Meets the 80s” rock show at Decatur’s historic Princess Theatre. I’m reliving the night via a play-by-play account and I’m a little over halfway.

Thanks to an amazing rendition of The B-52s “Love Shack” by the Fiddleworms and friends, this Fred Schneider-infused version of Eddie Martin is going to live rent free in my mind until the end of time. Thank you, universe, for this Very Fr-Eddie Moment of the night. That’s the beauty of “Muscle Shoals Meets ...” shows; these aren’t impersonations, y’all, they’re inspired covers. Listen, I love The B-52s — like LOVE LOVE them — and trust me, there was glitter in the aisles, there was glitter down front with the dancers, and there was glitter in the balcony. Eddie, plus the worms, plus Connr, sprinkled with the most perfect dose of those Shoals Sisters — Marie Lewey and Cindy Walker — made for a perfect funky little shack moment.

The BBBBBBBaddest Moment of the night came when the legendary Microwave Dave Gallaher gave us a Bad to the Bone gift. This performance was a real treat, friends. Dave’s even bluesier version of the George Thorogood and the Destroyers 80s classic felt like a dirty little scenic detour from the main path. With Dave and his ax in the driver’s seat and Brad Guin and his sax riding shotgun, I’m down to take that ride any day of the week and twice on Sunday.

The background visuals for this number were so on the mark, too — Corey Hannah, I see you. Do you remember the visuals? Maybe this will jog your memory, here’s a line from my notes: Yes, honey, I’m in awe, too. I thought it was exceptionally cool when I caught a glimpse of Scott Todd recording Dave from his Fiddleworm stance behind him on stage. This was a bad to the bone “Muscle Shoals Meets” collab driven by mutual respect. I’ll never forget what Dave said when he took the stage, “If you want to get better, play with people better than you.” I hear you, Dave, and accept your challenge. Of course, I can’t play anything but I vow right here and right now to take Dave’s advice and apply it to my daily walk.

I think the people behind me were still in Dave’s cool, chill orbit when the original Shoals wild one took the stage next. Red Mouth, Eric Gebhardt, delivered the Snap Out of It Moment of the night because umm, he truly is a wild one and he demands attention. I can’t get over the sheer perfection of this pairing, y’all. Red Mouth is a storyteller and his “Real Wild One” performance, complete with mini confetti cannons, took us on a journey paying homage to Iggy Pop’s creative genius. When I heard the guy behind me ask his seatmate, “I wonder what else is in his bag of tricks,” I wrote “mission accomplished” in my notebook. Well done, friends.

Stay tuned — more to come soon.

(Photo credit: Scott Todd)