Local all-star Bob Seger tribute act plays rare show at the Kilowatt
High-powered local Bob Seger tribute band Total B.S. plays the early material of the legendary Detroit rocker when they play this pre-Halloween show at the Kilowatt Friday night with costumed Black Sabbath cover band Bobb Saggeth.
Fronted by kinetic singer Jason Morgan -- who currently wields the mic with rock n' soul heroes Harold Ray and East Side Dynamite and previously led similarly minded punk/R&B crew Harold Ray Live in Concert -- the group features a murderer's row of seasoned scene veterans faithfully recreating the sounds of one of Detroit's most beloved musical exports.
While Seger would become an a national act and future classic-rock radio staple in the mid-1970s with his powerhouse concert document Live Bullet and his breakout studio album Night Moves, the singer had been toiling in the trenches building a strong regional following for over 15 years. Initially singing with a variety of garage-rock bands including the the Decibels, the Town Criers and as the singer for Doug Brown and the Omens before fronting Bob Seger and the Last Heard.
With that group, he penned and released a number of singles, including the holiday-themed James Brown style tune "Sock It to Me Santa," the Bob Dylan-influenced "Persecution Smith" and most notably the regional hit "Heavy Music." The band would eventually sign a deal with Capitol Records, who changed their name to the Bob Seger System. They would score more minor hits like the anti-war anthem "2+2=?" and the title tune to their first album, "Ramblin' Gamblin' Man."
Seger would try a variety of approaches before his eventual breakthrough, releasing the more singer/songwriter focused Noah and then returning with hard-rocking efforts like Smokin' O.P.'s, Mongrel and Back in '72. While those albums would become favorites among record collectors and garage-rock fans for their raw, R&B-flavored intensity, Seger would keep those earlier recordings out of print after achieving mainstream success. That material is the main focus of Total B.S., though some of the later hits have crept their way into setlists.
The all-star crew features three current and onetime members of Bay Area rock juggernauts Drunk Horse and Howlin Rain -- guitarist Eli Eckert (also in Once and Future Band and Low Plateau), guitarist/keyboardist Joel Robinow (leader of Once and Future Band and formerly in the touring line-up of the Black Crowes), and bassist Cyrus Comiskey (ex-Saviours and currently in pub punk band Smokers). Total B.S. also includes Comets on Fire drummer Utrillo Kushner (who plays keys in Low Plateau and Colossal Yes), saxophonist Matt Waters, percussionist Hoyt Faye and back-up vocalists Susan Appe and Dominique Banuelos-Matz.
The group played its first show in at least 10 years in 2022, opening for Kelley Stoltz with a celebration Seger's entire catalog focused on his early pre-fame songs but still touching on the hits that made him a staple of classic-rock radio. Last year, the band was booked for a rare out-of-town gig after being invited to play Stumpfest in Portland with such luminaries as heavy music duo Big Business, Tool drummer Danny Carey's trio and SF favorites Terry Gross (the power trio, not the NPR on-air personality). Total B.S. tops the bill at this pre-Halloween bash at the Kilowatt in San Francisco's Mission District Friday night, joined by preposterously named Bay Area Black Sabbath tribute band Bobb Saggeth.
Conceived during a 2009 rehearsal break by members of SF band Citay -- singer Meryl Press (who performs with soundtrack specialists the Red Room Orchestra and soul revue Marc and the Casuals), her drummer husband Warren Huegel (Tussle, 3 Leafs, Earth Girl Helen Brown, Musk and the late Gong singer Daevid Allen's University of Errors) and guitarists Josh Pollock (3 Leafs, the Lake Millions, Annie & the Flight, University of Errors) and Sean Smith (Twin Trilogy, LFZ) -- Bobb Saggeth has been playing its spot-on versions of Sabbath classics for over a decade.
The group plays occasional non-Halloween concerts, but it's their annual performances in late October that find the band dressing up in outlandish costumes. In the past, the quintet has played dressed as Kiss, the Star Trek crew, zombies and members of the Blue Man Group. While longtime bassist Carson Binks (Parchman Farm, Saviours, Dirty Ghosts, Wild Eyes) left the band a couple of years ago, his shoes have since been ably filled by Victims Family/Jello Biafra's Guantanamo School of Medicine/Brubaker bassist Larry Boothroyd.
Opening the show will be Jackshack, another cover band featuring guitarist/singer Eric Moffat (of '90s post-punk band Euthanasia and early 2000s group Amscray) with drummer Ricky Wayne Garrett (Electric Arrows) and Deep Space/Wall of Fog members JC O'Donnell (guitar) and Pete Schmitt (bass), who also play with Moffat in their instrumental project Equinox. Friday's performance will feature special guest singer Brad Brooks, the vocalist in the most recent incarnation of the MC5 who were honored in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last weekend. DJ Sasquatch Borracho plays Halloween-themed records before and between bands.
Total B.S. with Bobb Saggeth and Jackshack
Friday, Oct. 25, 8 p.m. $12-$15
The Kilowatt
