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Unpredictable Wesley Willis in Poor Spirits at Grog Shop

Though Grumpy, Songwriter Pulls Off Exciting Show

by Anthony Buccitelli

A Good Punk Rocker: Willis battles his long-time schizophrenia on the road. (photo courtesy x-entertainment.com)

A mixture of humor and solemnity characterized Wesley Willis' performance at the Grog Shop last Friday. Known to millions of indie fans as the creator of such cult classics as the now infamous "Cut the Mullet" and "Rock and Roll McDonalds," Willis gave his mostly white suburbanite audience a taste of the reality of his long-time struggle with schizophrenia.

The bawdy accordion stylings of opener Baby D kicked off what was to be a borderline unsettling evening. Adorned in a giant bumble bee suit, Baby D wowed the initially skeptical crowd with his in-your-face attitude. A surprisingly masterful accordion player, the sassy D belted out Shirley Temple hits, Broadway classics and his own fabulously smut-ridden versions of popular Christmas carols. His closing number, an open challenge to the audience to guess his gender, was a both shocking and hilarious slap in the face to all the jaded punkers in the audience who perhaps thought that a vaguely androgynous man in a giant bumble bee costume couldn't rock the house.

Following Baby D were Willis' fellow label-mates, The Causey Way. Taking the form of revival style preachers, the mysterious Causey and his motley band stirred the crowd with a mixture of hellfire and blazingly hard rock. They rocked, they rolled, they proclaimed their unflinching devotion to Causey and they even tested audience members for levels of Causey-ness. Both their tight musical performance and their uncommon religious zeal made The Causey Way a sight to behold indeed.

In the final surreal chapter of the night, Willis announced upon taking the stage that he had "had a bad day" and that he intended to do "a poor rock and roll show." He was as good as his word. Although he did not disappoint those who came just to hear his classics, Willis explained that he would not be doing many old songs because they made him depressed.

The listeners, clearly expecting Willis' usual jovial humor, tittered nervously at his long bouts of cursing, his ramblings about his fear of jail, and the repetition of one song that he claimed was to tell the "demons" in his head who was boss.

Willis' mood improved drastically as the evening wore on, however. Amidst fans screaming "rock" (one of his trademark slogans), he managed to work up enough energy to butt heads with several fans (another of his well-known habits). He also taunted the audience after repeated requests for "Cut the Mullet" with a song apparently entitled "I Twacked You" before closing with their request.

At the end of the night, however, many fans were left with a certain sense of uneasiness about Willis' performance. Although at times he was able to rally a certain amount of humor, the reality of Willis' affliction was apparent to all. People were left speechless by his stories about his jailed uncle and his own confrontations with his inner demons. Some felt that he was being exploited and mocked by the crowd, while others viewed Wesley's performance as more of a therapeutic ritual that seemed to being giving him some level of enjoyment. Although neither of these theories could be said to be decisive, there was enough ambiguity surrounding Willis' performance that even his most devoted fans began to think twice about the nature of his rock career.

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Copyright © 2000, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 129, Number 7, November 3, 2000

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