Monday, July 11, 2016

Pepper brings Like A Surgeon tour to the Crofoot

 Pepper on stage at the Crofoot 10-19-10

10-22-10 Originally published on Examiner.com by Tracy Heck

Tuesday night, Pontiac's Crofoot Ballroom was treated to Pepper's Like A Surgeon tour.

Pepper is touring behind their recently released EP Stitches which features popular single "Wake Up".

Tuesday, the show was opened by Californian punk rock band Pour Habit, whose wild antics and hard songs were a hit with the small but rambunctious college crowd.

Pour Habit frontman Chuck Green found his way out into the audience to mosh with the fans quite a few times and spent the rest of the time dancing wildly from one end of the stage to the other.

Randomly throughout the set the band would stop for a beer bong break before they would get back to their unique blend of metal, reggae and something that is indescribably their own sound.

Up next was Minneapolis hip hop artist Brother Ali and DJ Snuggles.

Brother Ali actually spent most of his childhood in Michigan and seemed to have quite a few fans who came out to the show just to see him.

The albino rapper is known for his early hip hop style and music that deals with things that are important to him including his view on the political system as well as his wish that the world would be a more open and accepting place.

Tuesday, he pulled out a number of songs off of his new album Us including the powerful title track and "The Preacher".

Set highlights included a beatboxing performance by DJ Snuggles that blew the audience away and a performance of Brother Ali's popular track "Truth Is".

Hawaiian rock band Pepper are known for their wild performances and they did not disappoint at the Crofoot.

In honor of their Stitches EP the band named their latest tour Like A Surgeon and before their set, the audience was treated to a soundtrack of hospital themed songs including Madonna's "Fever", TLC's "No Scrubs", Motley Crue's "Dr. Feelgood" and, of course, Weird Al's "Like A Surgeon".

The band's set for the tour is a hospital theme complete with a hospital background and props like a teaching skeleton and a wheelchair.

Pepper then came out to the sounds of someone being resuscitated and flashing red lights representing the heartbeat.

Pepper members lead vocalist/guitarist Kaleo Wassman, vocalist/bassist Bret Bollinger and drummer Yesod Williams came out sporting hospital masks and doctor scrubs.

The band then played a solid set full of songs spanning their thirteen year career.

Pepper's music is a great mix of hardcore reggae and rock reminiscent of Sublime or 311 but the band puts their own humorous spin on everything they sing.

New tracks like "Wake Up" and "Lonely" went hand in hand with older tracks like "Your Face" and "Nice Time".

At one point DJ Snuggles and Brother Ali joined the band on stage and during a performance of new song "Mirror" Pour Habit's Green took the stage in a wheelchair as a mental patient.

Green also made a memorable appearance during Pepper's first performance of popular new song "Drunk Girl" as he swayed, sang and jumped along on the edge of the stage.

However, it was the band's performances of "Freeze", "No Control" and closer "Ashes" that really stood out as they hand the crowd singing and swaying along.

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