Cameo Harlot At The Monkey House August 24, 2012

Words by Tim Lewis.

Whoo hoo, I was going to get to see Cave Bees again. After only catching one song by them a few weeks ago, while failing to balance two shows at the same time, I was psyched. Steve said they might go on first or second, but either way, I was all set. I headed out and arrived at the Monkey House a bit before showtime. Nathan showed up while I was waiting and we chatted a bit. The stage set did not look like Cave Bees, so I assumed Cameo Harlot were going on first. They did.

Cameo Harlot played a beautiful set of blistering music. All of the songs were solid hard rock. They played loud and tight and were tons of fun. The singer/guitar player had a nice voice and played some sweet leads on the Les Paul. The other guitar player was just as good. At times they traded leads. At times they played harmony guitar that reminded me of Iron Maiden. The rhythm section was always there to drive the songs home. Nathan commented that the singer looked pretty bad-ass but the other band members should step up their wardrobes. We both agreed that they rocked and played like fury. The set was 45 minute or an hour and was just wonderful. I had seen them a bit once before, and loved them even more this time. This was shaping up to be a wonderful night. Towards the end of the set, the singer asked the audience if they knew about Cave Bees. The audience was pretty quiet. He said we would have made a lot of noise if we knew what was about to happen. I’ve seen them, so I knew he was right. Playing one more, they finished up in fantastic form, then left the stage.

During Cameo’s set Cave Bees arrived and moved their instruments into the club. I got another drink and chatted with Ted, the new bassist for Ninja Custodian, and was letting the excitement build. At that point, Rebekah walked over to me and apologized. Apparently the headlining band, The Light’s Out decided they wanted to go on second. Rebekah and Steve had the baby with them. By the time TLO finished, tore down, the Bees set up, and played, it would be too late for the kid. They had to cancel. Rats! One of my favorite bands was in the club, instruments set to go, and they could not play. Ted left immediately. Nathan and I chatted outside while finishing our drinks, then checked out. I caught a bit of a song by TLO, but after dissing one of the great Burlington bands, I totally lost interest in them. It’s too bad, since I was primed to stay for their set after the Bees. Both they and the Monkey House lost out a bit, as about a third of the audience left when it became obvious that the Bees were not going to play.

It kind of sucked that they did not get to play, but I’m still really glad I went. Cameo Harlot made it all worthwile. Now, if the Bees will just play again sometime soon…..

This post was originally published by Tim Lewis at his personal blog, https://timstriangletribune.wordpress.com.