Talk Talk:

This past month, Vancouver fans got to witness a reunion of one of the greatest psychedelic/punk/pop/garage bands on the planet!! THE ENIGMAS - originally formed in Vancouver in the early 1980s - came back to give people a big dose of the Strange and Wild. The original band was Paul McKenzie on vocals and sax; Mike Davies on guitar; Brian Olinek on bass; and Randy Bowman on drums. For this gig at Vancouver's Wise Hall, three of the original members would return, with Stephen Hamm (a West Coast legend in his own right) stepping in to play bass.

Strangely Wild:

Any description of this group would be lacking until you see the band live. It's hard to imagine a band that better mixes the best of '60s melodic pop AND dark psychedelic weirdness with the punk sounds and energy coming out of Detroit in the 1970s. Singer Paul McKenzie has got to be one of the hardest working men in show business… Definitely one of the most dynamic front-men around in the vein of Iggy Pop by way of James Brown. A true showman with crazy energy and style. He sings, plays saxophone, plays guitar, and ‘plays' a Triumph motorcycle at the end of the night on ‘Ride My Bike'!! He's spent the past 20 years touring the world with the kilt-wearing punks THE REAL McKENZIES - The only punk band to employ a full-time bagpipe player as far as we know. He was part of The Wankers and the infamous ‘Wank Manor' in Vancouver. He started TT RACER with Personality Crisis' Richard Duguay in L.A. many years ago. The last few years he's lived in Vancouver, Germany, and Seattle when he wasn't on the road, so this reunion was about as likely as The McKenzies staying home with a glass of milk on Robbie Burns Day.. He is a true nomadic punk rock renaissance man. Mike Davies on guitar - who started The Enigmas as well as playing with Vancouver's insane girl posse JP5 - is still as fluid and solid as ever. His playing is a perfect mix of The Stooges meet Dead Kennedys after a night out drinking with The Sonics - style of psychedeli-punk.. Effortlessly weaving songs together with cutting chords and melodic lines. The amazing Randy Bowman on drums has played with punk icons The Subhumans and The Scramblers among many others. And Stephen Hamm - the newest Enigma - has played with Slow, Tank Hog, Copyright, JP5… The crazy duo Canned Hamm with Canadian Romantic Robert Dayton; as well as presently co-hosting a great internet podcast called ‘WADDAYA GONNA DO?'

You're Gonna Miss Me:

The packed crowd got to hear a mix of Enigma songs off of their two 1980s records, mixed with a strange assortment of cult-classics from the '60s and '70s that sounded like brand new songs when attacked by this band: From their own records, they played Strangely Wild with it's Dead Kennedys/Husker Du groove; the folky rock of The Flying Dutchman; A Bit Too Far, Monsters In The Basement… and their B-52s meet The Cramps oddities Windshield Wiper and Teenage Barnacle. Their covers were a great mix: Roky Erickson, Iggy Pop, MC5... Talk Talk by Music Machine in which they do one of the greatest versions of one of the weirdest songs of the 1960s. They brought the show into overdrive at the end of the night with their good friend (Canadian Filmmaker and former lead vocalist of THE SPORES - Danny "Shmanny" Nowak) coming up on stage to sing ‘New Rose' by The Damned; and then Paul McKenzie rolling out the Triumph onto the stage and revving it to the beat of ‘Ride My Bike' while he sang.

I Got A Right:

The Enigmas had a short life - from 1982 to 1986. But during this time, the band was one of the coolest, most original acts touring up and down the West Coast with their thrift- store stripes and crazy attitude. The members have gone on to play in an assortment of legendary bands coming out of this city; but for this one night, it was amazing to have the sound and show that only The Enigmas could put on. There's no one quite like this band. STRANGELY WILD!

Encore with Danny Shmanny - New Rose:

To check out Paul McKenzie's band THE REAL McKENZIES go to: http://www.realmckenzies.com/
Or to buy Real McKenzies music go to: http://www.amazon.com/Real-McKenzies/e/B000AQ6QE8
For Stephen Hamm's weekly podcast with co-host Terry Russell go to: https://waddayagonnado.com