The Mad Caps

Live at Boise’s Tom Grainey’s

9/8/2012 10:00pm

The Mad Caps did not arrive in Boise with ease. Confusion over the show start time led to a sense of urgency, but not speeding. This, however, did not stop Idaho State Patrol from making the Las Vegas duo feel welcome to the Treasure Valley.

My attempts at convincing Jon Real, Ted Rader and traveling companion Chris of the band Hooves that Boise, and Idaho, is not as unwelcoming as they had experienced up to this point could only go so far. Their true understanding of how we’d accept them came when Real and Rader took the stage.

Their sound, summoning the guitar style of Billy Gibbons with the vocal swooning of Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis stirring it together with a heavy helping of authentic garage rock, began to draw people from the street and got the ladies moving in front of the stage. The audible confine, in which their music was recorded, fantastic in its own right, is simply a produced prison. You cannot get a true feel for The Mad Caps until you experience them live; their original sound shredded expectations as fiercely as Rader shreds the guitar.

To put it as simply as possible, I have spent a lot of money to see shows that weren’t half as good as The Mad Caps. When Real hits the skins and Rader picks the guitar they become more than two guys on stage. They become possessed by their art and bring the house down with their style. It is a good thing Tom Grainey’s is built of brick because the explosive presence of The Mad Caps would surely tear any weaker structure from its seams.

By the close of their set, the crowd was on their feet, accepting and appreciative of a sound that most were unaware they were about to experience. The Mad Caps are a must see show. An experience that is the definition of “you just had to be there,” no one person can convey the sheer mind-blowing, face-melting, jaw-dropping live show in text and do it justice. If/when they come to your city, show, in droves. You won’t regret it.