Turn up the Heat

Ladies and gentlemen of the congregation, how long has it been since you last heard the bad Reverend preach? When was the last time you saw Reverend Horton Heat spread the gospel of tequila, cocaine, women and rock ‘n’ roll?

Has it been too long?

Not to worry. The Heat is coming to the Big Easy Concert House on Sunday at 8 p.m. to wash all your cleanliness away.

Yep, the psychobilly (it’s the next in the rockabilly–punkabilly progression) pioneers and their Gretsch-slingin’, beer-swillin’ messiah Jim Heath – aka “the Rev” – recently released their ninth album, aptly titled “Revival,” just in time for their annual night of debauchery in Spokane. Detroit Cobras and Dusty 45s open the show.

“Spokane’s a good music town,” Heath said, resting in a San Francisco hotel room before a gig Monday night. “We’ve got some good fans there, you know, and we’ve got some people from outlying areas that drive in to come to our shows. We’ve had some good shows there.”

After nearly two decades and thousands of concerts, the Heat has probably had some good shows everywhere. The trio started ripping up Texas roadhouses with its high-octane blend of punk, surf, rock ‘n’ roll, country and blues back in the mid-1980s. The group cut its first record (Smoke ‘Em if You Got ‘Em) with indie mainstay Sub Pop in 1991 – right in the midst of the grunge explosion – adding a bit of texture to a Vedder- and Cobain-obsessed music world.

The Rev’s been preaching to the converted ever since. His crowds are always chock-full of people dancing, thrashing and flailing about as if they’ve been touched by the unholy lord of rock ‘n’ roll.

And if you ask him, it’s the shows – not the studio work – that make life worth living. To him, the shows make the musician.

“We just love to play music,” he said. “So many bands and people look at it as a ‘recording artist’ thing. But you know, making an album doesn’t mean crap. Anyone can sit down and make an album.

“We average up to 200 shows a year. That’s what it’s all about, getting in front of a crowd and playing music. If they took that away from me, I don’t know what I’d do.”

If its high-energy live show was the first thing that put Reverend Horton Heat on the map, the group’s love for libation was the second. Heath and company quickly earned reputations as hardcore party animals, frequently out-drinking members of the crowd during shows. Hey, it’s only natural to indulge while growling lyrics like “I look up to the heavens/ For a ray of hope to shine/ And there it is in neon/ Liquor, beer and wine,” (“Liquor, Beer and Wine,” Liquor in the Front, 1994).

The guys have toned down the onstage power-drinking a little since those early days. Heath’s favorite drink is light beer now – gone are the days of tequila, gin and tonics and martinis – and he said the band members typically only drink during the latter half of the set. Otherwise, the drink takes away from the show.

But don’t fret – members of the Heat may be taking it easier on the bottle, but they’re just as hard on their instruments as they’ve ever been. They’re still the same, rock-you-right-out-of-your- knickers psychobilly sinners their congregation knows and loves.

So, ladies and gentlemen, if you’re down for a raucous time on Sunday, make sure to stop by the show and get saved by the bad Reverend. Your soul might just depend on it.