The Red Elvises have not lost the art of inspiring a conga line.
Saturday at the Launchpad, some aloof hipsters found themselves putting their hands on the shoulders of complete strangers to form a fast-moving line that snaked its way through the audience.
That's skill.
"We're the Red Elvises, your favorite band," bass-balalaika player Oleg Bernov said.
If you don't like the music, he added, you haven't drank enough, so you've only yourself to blame.
They had us at hello.
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Inspired by Chuck Berry, the Spice Girls and speeches by comrade Fidel Castro, the Red Elvises are "kick-ass rock 'n' roll from Siberia," according to the band's bumper stickers.
Donned in eye-straining suits of black-and-white patterns, the Red Elvises seized the spotlight and showed this town what putting on a good stage show is all about. The fact these each rosy king is also a crackerjack musician certainly helped.
"We're big on sing-along songs," Bernov said - at least 10 times.
The capacity crowd regularly shouted back lyrics when band members turned on the call-and-response. Audience members were also required to wave their hands over their heads, flap their arms like wings, and open and close their hands to mime the mouths of the "stupid bluebirds" that eat up butterflies during a tune called "Sex in Paradise."
But that's just the beginning of what is likely one of the most interactive and imaginative stage shows to come through Albuquerque. These guys don't need fancy lights, revolving sets or seas of smoke - though I'm sure they wouldn't object to such things.
For the Red Elvises, it's the simple things.
It's guitarist Igor Yusov making exaggerated conductor faces and hand gestures to play the audience like a wild orchestra. It's Bernov demanding everyone hold up their index finger and get down during "Closet Disco Dancer." It's a 10-minute drum solo, the first part of which included all the Elvises playing on the same trap kit. It's Oleg Gorbunov in a top hat and sunglasses breaking out the squeezebox for a growly song about strip joints and sailors.
One question remains: Why aren't these guys touring with the likes of Tom Waits and Primus?
Vibrant clothes and killer stage presence are but two trademarks of the Red Elvises, a band steeped in innovation. The gigantic triangular instrument known as the bass-balalaika is another.
The bass-balalaika is a Russian lute, according to the American Balalaika Symphony's site. When painted red like Bernov's, it looks a bit like a flying-V model guitar gone wrong. Either way, Bernov was never off even a microsecond during the band's two sets, in spite of a steady stream of libations.
Drummer Adam Gust, introduced as "the only American in the band," represented for U.S. musicians with impeccable timing and dead-on fills. You don't get much cleaner than Gust. Yusov's sweltering guitar licks and spunky lyrics - usually familiar themes with a tiny twist - proved exactly the right kind of sweet in the icing on this cake.
And even with audience participation, singable lyrics, cheesy antics and a general focus on fun, the Red Elvises had what is typically perceived as a pretty cynical crowd eating right out of their hands. So much for rock's jadded front.
Red Elvises
Grade: A
