If you weren’t convinced already, Mickey Avalon will definitely confirm that rap stars are the new rock stars. In the late sixties/early seventies, Pamela Des Barres and the like were writhing in the front rows of Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones shows. Today, the barely of age girls are fighting- literally- to be in the front of a Mickey Avalon show. Their stilletto heels and manicured nails become the weapons of choice in this mosh pit of Mickey idolizers. I stand to the side and laugh- do they even understand that many of his tracks are poking fun at their very existence?

This is my third time to see Mickey, and second time to see the other two. The stage was ‘Streets of LA’- a chain link fence, a newspaper stand, a BMX bike, some construction cones. The Dirt Nasty/Andre Legacy set was much better than the Mezzanine show that I saw. I think the props helped- those mics can help simulate a lot of their lyrics. I got a kick out of Dirt Nasty’s tweaker dancing- you’ll see in the vid that he pulls out a partial cabbage patch at one point. Quite a career he’s had, MTV VJ to porns to spoof films.

There was a long break in between sets, and then the girl’s started to chant ‘Mickey! Mickey!’ which sounded like a high school pep rally. Aren’t Tuesdays school nights? Anyways, he finally comes out in his usual ensemble plus a sailor hat, looking like its been a particularly long road. I believe we got the entire album, with a few tracks done over different background music to mix it up. I think there might have been a new track in there, too.

And then there were the dancers, imported straight from the streets of LA. I finally got to see this show with real dancers. Not the hoochies that kept jumping on stage, but the real hos. They had some great choreography, if you could call it that.

At this point, I’ve seen at least two good chick fights, and a slew of googoo facial expressions where the girl looks like she has become possessed and can’t help herself from crawling up on stage, only to be whisked away by security. It’s highly entertaining. I’m not sure if I’m having more fun watching the crowd or the stage; but this is my writer’s dilemma.

The other two come back out mid set and do a couple of Andre Legacy and Speedreaders songs. Then Mickey finishes the set and leaves as we all wait patiently for ‘My Dick’. So maybe not so patiently. But, they came back out and I finally got to hear it live- the song that started all the buzz way back last year.

It’s fun to see an artist evolve over time, especially when they have one short album’s worth of material to work with. Mickey has done a great job of mixing it up and keeping it fresh. I hope that his next album is as addicting as the first- perhaps no longer fueled by years of street living, but rather a couple of years of living on the road dealing with crazy female fans.

Mickey Avalon