For their latest tour, Cowboy Mouth is trying to bring Mardi Gras with them.

OK, maybe that's an overstatement, but they sure are bringing a party.

The New Orleans-based band's second night of their tour hit Ziggy's in Winston-Salem with a fury.

Singer/drummer Fred LeBlanc comes across as a mixture of Jack Black and Chris Farley.

He easily gets the crowd into a frenzy from the opening notes to his final a capella of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

The band played a mixture of old tunes and most of the tracks off of their latest album, "Voodoo Shoppe."

Two of those tracks included the post-Katrina written "Home" and "The Avenue" - probably the only two times in the night that the crowd stopped moving and simply listened.

For most of the band's 90-minute set, the crowd was singing along and jumping up and down.

They also found the time to carry on the tradition of throwing Tootsie Rolls during "Hurricane Party" and red spoons during "Everybody Loves Jill."

Of course, they rounded out the set by ending with their biggest hit, "Jenny Says."

I hadn't seen Cowboy Mouth before, and had only heard their latest album and a couple other tracks.

The show came off like a giant frat party with people of all ages (mostly early 20s) singing along, pumping fists in the air and following the commands of LeBlanc.

Four songs into the show, LeBlanc was covered in sweat and still asking for more "rhythm" from the crowd.

His drum set up front, he targeted random spectators to "clap more" or "move more." He even called up "Angie" to help hit the drums.

Overall, the show played out like a short-lived adventure, but judging by LeBlanc's soaking wet t-shirt and a worn-out audience, no one could have handled much more.

Posted by jeffhahnedisabled at March 5, 2006 1:21 AM