“Ten years, one practice, one wedding,” Tim Parrish announced to the crowd at Cafe Nine, summing up the most recent history of his band, The Irascibles, which arrived for a once in a lifetime show for a band with a once in a lifetime story behind them.
“In 1994 I was working at the University of Alabama and hadn’t been in a band in two years,” Parrish, a professor of English at Southern Connecticut State University, told the Independent. “Dan Elextro who plays drums and Robert Huffman who plays organ and were two stalwarts of the Tuscaloosa music scene came to my house. They were trying to put on a production of Jesus Christ Superstar at a local club and wanted me to be in it, but it fell through. They asked me to be in a band instead. Robert always wanted to be in a band called Los Iracundos which translates to The Irascibles. I was shocked to be asked by such great musicians. So I asked them, do I have to help write songs? They said no. Are we going to practice much? They said no. Do I have to book gigs? They said no. I said, ‘I’m in.’”
Together with original bass player Greg Staggs and guitarist Jason LaBresh, who had been an undergrad student of Parrish’s at UA, The Irascibles played its first gig in February 1994 to a packed room. One month later, Parrish got a job at SCSU as professor of English. “So we played as many gigs as they could and also cut a few songs in Birmingham,” Parrish said.
Parrish returned to Alabama twice in the next year for gigs and to add vocals to “a bunch of raw songs” according to Parrish. “They were low fi. I call them the super fuzz sessions.” By that time Brian O’Keefe, currently an associate editor at Fortune magazine and NY resident, had replaced Staggs on bass.
The band didn’t play together again until 2008 at the Lakeside Lounge in New York City and two gigs in Tuscaloosa.
Flash forward to 2017. LaBresh, who now lives in Sydney, Australia, contacted Parrish because he wanted Parrish to marry him and his fiancée in NYC in 2018. He also suggested a reunion. Through a series of emails, “everyone jumped on board.” Parrish also asked if they could have the show in New Haven “because there are people here who haven’t seen me do this.” Cafe Nine was chosen and all agreed to it. Elextro plays there once a year with The Woggles and “loves it,” Parrish added with a smile.
The plan would be as follows, according to Parrish: “One practice on Thursday — who needs more than that? Friday night partying, Saturday night wedding, Sunday gig!”
The group’s Sunday night gig at Cafe Nine, which also included a set by local band Dust Hat, welcomed the five Irascibles — from Alabama, New York, Sydney, Australia, and Hamden, CT — to a packed room of friends and family, including many of Parrish’s former students and acquaintances were well aware of his musical history but who had never seen him perform.
If you had no clue as to the Irascibles’ history, you would never have known from the show that its members didn’t play together regularly. Unleashing a set of well over 15 songs with a few breaks to banter with each other and the continuously enthusiastic and receptive crowd, the Irascibles gave everyone more than enough reason to brave the deep winter’s chill and get down to the Nine to warm up and dance.
“Thank you New Haven for coming out, no Bomb Cyclone is gonna stop you!” shouted O’Keefe. Elextro also shouted out Cafe Nine owner Paul Meyer and thanked him and the club for having them.
It took little effort for Parrish to get the crowd closer to the stage and dancing and singing along, even to songs people were hearing for the first time. With songs such as “Monkey with a Chainsaw,” written by Parrish, and “Push,” which has also been recorded by The Woggles, the band played as tight as anybody.
Parrish added his own ecstatic singing and dancing to the mix and came down into the audience more than once — first after donning a garbage bag and then ripping it off while singing one song (“Sci-Fi Movie”), and then for the encore, the song “Hush,” made popular by Deep Purple, inviting all around him (including this reporter) to dance and sing along with him. I don’t recall the last time I saw so many people smiling at a show.
“It’s criminal that these guys only play once every 10 years,” said Tim Goselin, a musician and former student of Parrish’s.
A sizable crowd remained for Dust Hat, who have been playing regularly in New Haven and have become known for their fun and danceable rock ‘n’ roll sound and the party atmosphere of their live shows. Mixing up original songs such as “Jean Jacket” with covers of old favorites, such as “(Ain’t Nothing But a) House Party” by J. Geils Band, the band — Brendan Toller on guitar and vocals, Robin Woerner on vocals and tambourine, Dan Soto on bass and vocals, Jeff Slocum on guitar, and Rob Ruby on drums — played with fire and frantic beauty. The band tipped their hat to The Irascibles often during the set (“I’m feeling irascible up here,” said Soto). Toller, wearing his ever present smile as well as his now trademark glitter shoes, also announced to the audience that the band’s first album was mixed and would be out this year sometime in the spring.
Bassist Soto also thanked the Irascibles. “We hope to be here ten years from now,” he said.