The Informants Rock Herman’s Hideaway

The first thing I thought was wow – and the last thing I thought was why aren’t The Informants opening for national acts? Denver Colorado count your blessings that this ultra-cool roadhouse boogie band was born in your city and as of this writing can still be seen at a venue as intimate as Herman’s Hideaway.

Anyone who knows me knows will tell you I’m not easily impressed, and after playing music professionally for 11 years I’m kind of a jaded guy, but The Informants lit my jaded-ass fuse and sparked the kind of passion that must have kicked rock and roll off for my parents back in the 1950′s when everything was new.

I fished my HD video cam out of my pocket and crowded around the frenzy of dancers who packed the dance floor and caught this footedge near the end of the show. (I’ll never be late for one of their shows again!) Fortunately, they were nearly dragged back on the stage for not 1 but 2 encores – and burned the stage down with songs from their smokin’ hot CDs. Okay, I actually yanked cash out of my pocket and bought everything they had to sell including Stiletto Angel and Crime Scene Queen CDs.

My sense of this band was sort of a time travel experience as the driving tom tom drumbeats flowed from surf’s-up boogie to a smouldering version of Unchain My Heart. I say time travel because for me I swear i could smell cheeseburgers and gumbo cooking at the back of some Louisiana roadhouse nightclub in 1965 as the horns punched and bleated bluesy riffs, and the driving bass and stinging guitar served up the perfect soundtrack and set the stage for a very unique singer.

Let’s just be honest here, the star of this fabulous act is lead singer Kerry Pastine. The Informants is a full blown show with ultra talented musicians who freakin’ bring it hard, but Kerry reaches into the audience and alternately smacks your ass and then tears your heart out and makes you like it – a lot!

With a powerful voice reminiscent of The Eurythymics Annie Lennox, Kerry has staked out her own territory in blues and until I think of a better term – Southern roadhouse boogie. I honestly can’t think of a popular singer today who can compete with her in this genre – both in pure power vocal style – and in a delightfully ass kicking stage presence. Here is Kerry Pastine’s MySpace Page.

It’s hard to express in words the exuberance with which this band rolls out every number – but they do. If you are going to be a band you ought to have fun – and these cats appear to be having the time of their lives, and the audience clearly is in on the whole gig.

Writing my new book The Stardust Factor has had me looking at all of the nuances of fame and magnetic attraction and trying to analyze and define it. It’s gonna take me some time to break down why The Informants has so much Stardust, (and boy do they), because I’m just basking in the joy of their music for pure fun right now.