Nerf Herder is the kind of band that brings out the cheeky side in just about everyone.
“I’ve waited 28 years and worked my way up to become the Executive Director of the Lobero, just so I could get up on this stage and introduce Nerf Herder performing their entire album NERF HERDER (redux). It’s a great f*cking album,” said the normally soft spoken Lobero ED Marianne Clark, who finally got her chance to introduce the band following a pair of lively opening sets by Ridel High and Summercamp, two other local favorites from the ‘90s.
Jumping on stage with a kind of energy not usually found at 30th anniversary gigs, singer-songwriter Parry Gripp told the visibly excited crowd: “We’re Nerf Herder and we came all the way from Alex’s Cantina in 1996.”
The whole evening felt a little like Alex’s in 1996, where the testosterone flowed heavily and political correctness was still in the future. Those were not bad things in this particular setting, as the band — which also includes drummer Steve Sherlock, longtime bassist Ben Pringle, and the lead guitarist known as Linus of Hollywood — launched into “Vivian” and “Portland” before setting out to replay their entire 1996 debut NERF HERDER album in order.
There were an abundance of local references, and most of the fans, many of who jumped up to dance in the aisles, seemed to remember all of the lyrics to classic songs like “Down On Haley,” “Golfshirt,” “Sorry,” “Van Halen,” and “Nosering Girl.” “Thank you for singing along,” quipped Gripp at one point. “I need all the help I can get.”
The album’s re-recorded re-release is on May 29, but the vinyl version was on sale at the Lobero that night, as Gripp said, “Today this is the only place in the world you can get this.”
After the 10th and final song from the album, “I Only Eat Candy,” he yelped, “We did it. We did the whole record.”
They did all that and more, next launching into the nostalgic track “We Opened For Weezer” (can you guess what that one’s about), and the dork-tastic “Mr. Spock,” with its head-spinning number of geek culture references.
They ended what was surely one of the Lobero’s rowdier nights with the whole place singing along to “The Sportsman Bar” (listen here) — no longer on Figueroa Street like the song says (it’s now on State Street near the Granada, and they still advertise that they’re the home to Santa Barbara’s oldest liquor license ) — but the spirit in the lyrics:
“Say a prayer for friends / Who passed away, / Say a prayer for the lurkers / And the losers / And to all you bastards / That moved out of town, / We’ll see you at Thanksgiving / At The Sportsman Bar / Whoa-oa-oa, all hail, / The Sportsman Bar” — still reigned strong in Santa Barbara that night.
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