Cherry Bombs Heat up Dallas

It was a cool Texas winter night as we navigated our way through the crowded Deep Ellum streets to the historical Trees Venue where the Cherry Bombs were set to perform their newest act The Macabret tonight. Sitting out from amongst the busy streets was a bus and trailer containing the best Dancers and performers around that plays with fire, power tools, and many other props all while they perform to a heavy metal music soundtrack. Upon entering Trees, you could see the stage that was set up for the Cherry Bombs and their guest Them Evils that they brought to kick things off! Many of the fans that had arrived early were getting their spots for the night in some of the available chairs and many more standing at the edge of the stage to make sure they never missed a single moment in the excitement and show we were about to have delivered to us.

Moments before Them Evils hit the stage the house lights went down along with the house music and the fans made their way towards the stage so that they could get a healthy dose of a true Rock and Roll show for the night. One by one the band took to the stage and grabbed up their instruments and started getting in place to kick things into high gear. Guitarist and frontman Jordan Griffin stepped up to the front and told the fans not to be scared and come on up to the front everyone. Jordan and the Bass player Jake who was wearing his girlfriend’s shirt invited everyone to get closer and get together so they could get this night kicked off. As soon as they struck the first notes it seems like chaos erupted on the stage and the whole band began performing, jumping around and headbanging as the crowd began to stir to such a high energy show they were witnessing. The guitar and bass player even climbed the rafters that were set up on the stage and played some while standing over the top of their outstanding drummer David Delaney. Trees is not a large venue and when you were watching them perform you would not have known that as the band was performing just like they were headlining at a giant festival. The fans really got into it when they played the newest song Burner and the bass player even ventured out to the bar right before the song and began playing while standing and drinking on the bar in the back of the club. As Them Evils closed out their set the bass player and guitarists again climbed to the top of the platforms and played and then jumped and hung off the front of it to end their set.

As the opening act finished up clearing the stage and the crew finished last-minute preparations for the Cherry Bombs to bring the astonishing show to the stage the fans took a quick break to get prepared to see what we had all been waiting on.  The fans got drinks and took their last-minute breaks before the show was set to start. As the fans regained their places at the front of the club leaning on the stage to ensure that they did not miss a moment of the performance that was about to take place you could feel the anticipation in the air. As the moment closed in to get started the lights went out and the screen behind the scaffolding started playing the movie Macabret starting with the welcoming speech welcoming all of us to the White Dog Saloon with a very haunting tone. With the lights out and the movie rolling setting up what we are about to witness on the stage you could start to see some commotion and movement on the stage. The suspense of what was about to happen was building and everyone in the building had their eyes glued to the stage as more movement started coming from the sides of the stage. As the end of the introduction played and we were all officially welcomed into the White Dog Saloon the dancers started appearing from the side stage. They slowly started climbing and crawling on top of scaffolding while some of them were swinging from it finding their places on the stage.  As soon as the dancers were set the music started and the stage erupted with bright flashes of strobe lights and dancers all over the stage performing their routine while the crowd was cheering and watching in awe as they all performed their parts. In the middle of the routine more dancers joined followed by a large creature with long legs and a ghostly face walked on to the stage between the Cherry Bomb dancers and then back to the creatures hiding spot as they finished the opening scene for the night.  As the dancers exited the stage and were getting changed the song Where Eagles Dare performed by The Misfits started playing and the male performer came out with his illuminated twirling fires sticks and performed his impeccable routine while the fans held watch to every move he made until he finished, bowed exited the stage. The dancers appeared on the stage wearing trench coats and carrying suitcases looking like distraught hitchhikers and then set down their bags and went straight to their next routine that was stunning. There were several times when the crew would get the crowd out of the way to set up the silks for the performer to work with. Suddenly the crowd starts separating and a completely covered in lace bunny stalks her way through the crowd playing with the fans as she makes her way to the silks so she put on her mind-boggling performance as the crowd oohs and awes at every move she makes holding their attention to what might be next. 

Shortly after this, the Cherry Bombs kicked up a notch as Alicia Taylor made her way to the stage with a devilish outfit and fire in her hands performing to Rammstein. The girls performed with fire taking turns in the front and doing different stunts with them and during the performance and one even performed with a hula hoop style ring on fire as the crowd watched mesmerized by their moves and fire play. The crew steps in again and sets up a large metal square and once they are done you see a couple of voodoo doll dancers working their way through the crowd interacting with them as they join each other on the box up in the air. As their music plays, they begin their routine and start revealing another outfit underneath that is hit with black lights as the rest of the lights are out to reveal the glow in dark painted on their costumes. When it came time for Alicia to perform her solo for the night she came out and performed the very difficult Flamenco dance with Metallica Creeping Death playing as the soundtrack to the dance. She performed this difficult dance with such elegance and grace while keeping time to the heavy metal music playing in the background and threw in some extra flair playing with a bullwhip and snapping the end of a rose out of a skull’s mouth. In addition to what we have already witnessed the dancers returned to the stage with white nurse’s outfits on with angle grinders and large metal belts in place. As soon as the Live Wire by Motley Crue started playing they began hitting the belts with the grinders sending spark flying as they were hitting note for note with the song. There was one part where they joined each other in the center of the stage and as sparks hit their outfits it appeared as blood splatters on their outfits astonishing the crowd when they turned around. At the end of the performance, all the Cherry Bombs appeared back on the stage in their trench coats and suitcases thanked the crowd took a bow, and exited the stage.

These are just some of the incredible and amazing performances and routines that you will get to witness when you see the Cherry Bombs perform live. It is unquestionably a show that you will want to see and not miss when they come to a town near you, and you will become an instant fan if you are not familiar with them. The Cherry Bombs is an insanely talented group of performers that you can tell has put in the hard work and dedication that it takes to have an awe-inspiring live show where there are no breaks or retakes involved in their performances. This was the first headlining tour for the group, but I am certain it will not be the last and I cannot wait to see them perform again when they come back to town. You could also check out their YouTube docuseries Girl Gang and get some behind-the-scenes views of how much hard work and dedication this team puts in all the time for their friends, fans, and family.  

Words by Craig and Paula Youngblood
Photos by Craig Youngblood