Chimers aren’t even supposed to be here today.
The husband-and-wife garage-rock duo had planned to spend their Friday evening (11 August) celebrating their 16th wedding anniversary – that was until a call came through from one Kim Salmon at the 11th hour seeking a replacement for an ill Penny Ikinger.
As guitarist Pádraic Skehan jokes to the crowd: “Marry someone who’ll say yes to playing with the Beasts of Bourbon!”
It’s yet another feather in the cap of the two-piece, who have been supporting luminaries like Mudhoney, Me First & The Gimme Gimmes and Salmon’s other band The Scientists. More to the point, Chimers’ performances like the one they put on tonight truly put the ‘special’ in ‘with special Guests’.
Constantly on the attack, the mix of dissonant and distorted guitar chug against a driving drum wallop is best described as an unstoppable force hitting an immovable object.
The raw power of tracks like ‘Beasts’, ‘Surrounds’ and ‘Turn Out The Lights’ are only truly comprehended when they’re being blasted directly in your face. You’re left not wondering how they got the gig, but more why they didn’t have it in the first place. Joyeux anniversaire, Chimers.