The Jim Jones Revue returns to New York City this week to tear it up at the Knitting Factory (photo by twi-ny/mdr)
Knitting Factory Brooklyn
361 Metropolitan Ave.
Thursday, March 10, $13-$15, 8:00
www.bk.knittingfactory.com
www.myspace.com/thejimjonesrevue
Jim Jones Revue slideshow
Last summer England’s Jim Jones Revue blew into town for three shows that tore the roof off the city. We caught them at the Mercury Lounge, where they played a blistering, frenetic set that filtered Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard through the Stooges and the MC5. They ripped it up with such punk R&B barnburners as “Hey Hey Hey Hey,” “Rock ‘n’ Roll Psychosis,” and “Cement Mixer” from their 2008 self-titled debut and “High Horse,” “Elemental,” and “Shoot First” from their September 2010 disc, Burning Your House Down. As fast and furious as they play, they also revealed a goofy sense of humor with “Dishonest John,” a song inspired by the villain in the old Beany and Cecil cartoons. Singer and guitarist Jones might have been front and center, but he had a crazed cohort in Elliot Mortimer, who sliced, diced, and banged away on his piano, sending out maximum thrills and chills. Just this week, however, it was officially announced that Mortimer has left the band to spend more time with his family, and he has been replaced by French-born keyboardist Henri Herbert, so it will be interesting to see how that change impacts this amazing band, which also includes Rupert Orton on guitar, Gavin Jay on bass, and Nick Jones on drums, as they return to New York City for a show March 10 at the Knitting Factory with local groups Freshkills and the hot Hollis Brown, which just sold out Brooklyn Bowl on their own late last month. “2010 was a busy old time for us with an obscene amount of gigs that took us across Europe and America in a blaze of rock n roll fury,” Jay recently wrote on the Jim Jones Revue blog. “Houses were burned down, roofs raised, and speakers exploded in our mission to bring noise, mayhem, and dancing to each and every one of you. And quite frankly, it’s a bit of a blur.”