The Nekromantix at the Gramercy Theatre

Kim Nekroman is from Copenhagen, Denmark, and had served the Danish navy as a submarine radio operator for eight years when he started attending rockabilly festivals and considered starting a band. At age 25, he taught himself drums and played in a rockabilly band, but within three months he found that boring, so in 1989 he purchased a stand-up bass and formed a horror-themed psychobilly band with himself as the vocalist. The band took the name Nekromantix, and began writing and performing songs structured around monster and horror themes. After joining the European rockabilly circuit, Nekroman watched a video of an early Nekromantix concert and was inspired to make the show more visual by constructing a bass from a child's coffin. In 2002, Nekroman relocated to Los Angeles, California, where the band became part of the emerging west coast psychobilly movement. The Nekromantix presently consists of vocalist/bassist Nekroman, guitarist Francisco Mesa and drummer Adam Guerrero. The band's ninth studio album, A Symphony of Wolf Tones & Ghost Notes, was released October 21, 2016.

Psychobilly is rockabilly with a horror theme, so the Nekromantix tour was apt to come around close to Halloween. The Nekromantix headlined the Gramercy Theatre tonight with a fairly naked stage. Visually, there was Nekroman wearing a tall quiff (a hairstyle that combines the 1950s pompadour, the 1950s flattop, and a mohawk), slapping and dancing with his latest custom-built coffin bass. Other than that, the concert was a rollicking feast of dark and dirty rockabilly, infused with a gritty rock-and-roll and punk edge. Songs embracing monster, zombie, vampire, werewolf, and B-horror fiction were made to sound darkly romantic due to Nekroman's chilling baritone. Some lyrics were downright creepy yet always humorous, and the rhythms and grooves made the songs danceable and fun. This was music that very well could be enjoyed beyond Halloween.

Visit the Nekromantix at www.nekromantix.net.