Little Caesar at the Palace: Blood on the Kickstand

Fire up the Harley, suck back a coupla cans of 30-weight, ‘n’ gitcherself a new tattoo, Betty Lou, ‘cause Little Caesar is playin’ the rockin’ role of the ultimate biker-bar band right down to the blood on the kickstand. Supercharged by Ron Young’s self-deprecating sarcasm and strong vocals, these tattooed love boys also packed a certain tunefulness into their heavily R&B-based; material during their set at the Palace on Friday, particularly when working at mid-tempo. (The headbanging riffslingers are less distinctive.)

The local quintet could also lose the brew-spewing, buddy-buddy routines. They don’t need ‘em. Not when they can grind out a dirty whiteboy version of Aretha Franklin’s “Chain of Fools” that’s reminiscent of nothing less than Detroit, those semi-legendary Motor City mamajammas led by Mitch Ryder back in 1972. Maybe even better.

S.F.-based Jet Boy, which headlined the show, is the Living Definition of Mediocrity. Probably best at ersatz glamslam stuff such as “Feel the Shake”--the title track of their recent debut LP--and predictably worst when bludgeoning their way through hoary blooze root-tines. After 40 minutes there were almost as many people schmoozing in the lobby as there were inside watching these poseurs rolloverundersidewaysdown.