The Flesh Eaters at the Bowery Ballroom

Chris D

Chris Desjardins, known professionally as Chris D., was a feature writer at Slash magazine in 1977 when he formed the Flesh Eaters with several friends from the punk scene in Los Angeles, California. Desjardins was a poet who sang morbidly romantic lyrical themes while the band played experimental and improvisational punk rock, garage band, heavy metal, rockabilly, road-house blues, soul and free jazz. Even after multiple member changes, the Flesh Eaters initially split in 1983, and Desjardins performed solo and with his new band, the Divine Horsemen, from 1984 to 1988. In 1989, Desjardins recorded an album with a project he called Stone by Stone. He then rebranded the band as the Flesh Eaters and continued to use the name with changing musicians until 1993, again from 1997 to 2000, and yet again in 2006, 2015 and 2018. Desjardins is the group's only continuous member. The Flesh Eaters' 11th and most recent studio album, I Used To Be Pretty, was released on January 18, 2019.

Through much of Chris D.'s musical history, the Flesh Eaters were perhaps more a concept than a band, as lineups changed frequently. The Flesh Eaters achieved its greatest accolades in 1981 with the album A Minute to Pray, a Second to Die, at which time the musicians consisted of Desjardins, guitarist Dave Alvin (the Blasters), bassist John Doe (X), saxophonist Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), and percussionists DJ Bonebrake (X) and Bill Bateman (the Blasters). Desjardins reformed that lineup in 2006 and reunited the musicians again for the 2018 album and 2019 tour. At the Bowery Ballroom tonight for the final date of the tour, the Flesh Eaters performed six tracks from that album, songs from other Flesh Eaters eras, and a few cover songs. Desjardins' agonized wail unified all the songs, with the band's musical thrust as aggressive an assault as Desjardins' wordy lyrics and harrowing vocal delivery. Dark and deadly, raw and propulsive, the band anchored itself on grooves and ripped. Even the recurring soft moments of Bonebrake's vibraphone and guest vocals by former Divine Horsemen's Julie Christensen did not blunt the blow. Desjardins told the audience that the performance might be the last ever for the band. Hopefully, Desjardins will find other ways to disrupt the passive music market.

Setlist:

1. See You in the Boneyard
2. Pray ‘Til You Sweat
3. House Amid the Thickets
4. Cinderella (The Sonics cover)
5. Satan’s Stomp
6. My Life to Live
7. So Long
8. Black Temptation
9. Cyrano de Berger’s Back
10. Pony Dress
11. The Green Manalishi (with the Two Prong Crown) (Fleetwood Mac cover)
12. Divine Horseman
13. The Wedding Dice
14. Miss Muerte

Encore:

1. She’s Like Heroin to Me (The Gun Club cover)
2. Ghost Cave Lament