Here’s one of the great puzzles of the Dwarves- does the band care about you? Throughout their career, the band has bucked at the fluctuating mores of the day, instead carving their own route, which sometimes veered to the truly offensive and sometimes was unquestionably the most sensible line-of-thought, even when everyone else was making stupid decisions. So, a viewing of their recorded material would suggest that the Dwarves do the Dwarves thing because it pleases them and them alone and to hell with anyone else that might wring their hands or scream out “think of the children!”

Yet, when the band played a packed Kung Fu Necktie in Philly on May 13, 2018, it was clear they came to do damage. A lot of punk bands (not all) as they reach middle age, like to slow down, save the “hard tracks” for the end, or basically refurbish their nastier numbers as something not quite so nasty. The Dwarves, however, now in their inexplicable thirty-fifth year, came out blazing. Opening the show with a somewhat unexpected “Anybody Out There,” the band immediately slammed into a 26 song setlist that composed mostly of a hardcore attack. “Drug Store” was crunched down into one minute of sheer rage. “Speed Demon,” with it speed metal-ish second half, was revved up with vocalist Blag Dahlia switching between his biker bar bark and zagged out death howl. “We Only Came to Get High,” one of their most savage numbers, was played at near double speed with bassist Nick Oliveri howling in his blood curdling scream. Even the “poppier” numbers like “Everybody’s Girl” and “How It’s Done” were pushed into a violent territory with guitarist Fresh of Darkness elevating the guitar strike and newish drummer Hunter Down exchanging technicality for brute force – that’s the right play, mind you.

Likewise, the band brought out three newer numbers- “Devil’s Level,” “Take back the Night,” and “Forget Me Not.” Like “Sluts of the USA” and “Wake Up and Get High,” before them, the new songs snapped right into the setlist and will almost certainly carry on forward through the band’s history. Frankly, The Dwarves don’t put out bad, or even mediocre, albums, and the dividends pay off in their fiery live show. “Take Back the Night,” with its bullish Angus/Malcolm chorus really revved up the audience through participation and di that thing that the best Dwarves tunes wherein the rhythm, as forceful as it is, ping pongs from Dahlia to audience and back again in a sort of game… or perhaps even a sort of tribal mind meld?

Which brings us back to the Lermarchand’s box that is the Dwarves. Between the violent-but-not-too-violent moshing and stage diving (yours truly got double roundhouse kicked in the ribs!) and audience vocal participation, it seems that the band is there to be the ringleaders for “a good time.” Even Dahlia himself could’t help but crack a wide smile when a young lady added the famous “Eeeewww! You’re Creepy” line to “Everybody’s Girl.” But then, if the Dwarves have always stuck to their guns, even in the face of public scorn, how can they possibly be playing to the crowd?

One thinks back through the Dwarves catalogue. Throughout their career, they’ve reference the early, early rock n roll titans. BB King, Little Richard, Bo Diddley, and Chuck Berry have all gotten a nod here or there. One of the reasons those legends were indeed legends is that, while they never achieved the commercial success of their derivates, say Aerosmith or Clapton, they always made it a point to the absolutely baddest mofo in their craft. How about when Berry almost made Keith Richards cry in the 80s because Richards couldn’t bend the note juuuuuuust right? How about BB King at the Apollo in 1991, where he played songs he had played thousands of times before, but still maintained a laser focus on the strings in order to that thing that only BB can do? It goes to a certain pride of craftsmanship if you will. It’s a dedication to not only doing ones best, but being the best. Clapton might cash the bigger checks, but BB is still the boss.

Honestly, I’d file the Dwarves in the same camp as the blues maestros. During the Philly show, Dahlia announced, as he is wont to do, “The Dwarves ARE the best band ever.” You could tell he believed it. And the fact that he believed it, made the audience believed it, too, and that’s why the band, while never really playing into any particular trend or flavor, have traversed the decades without ever disintegrating, or worse, becoming pale imitations of their former selves. . You can’t pull that trick with nothing – you do have to have the jams and live show to back it up. But, as the Philly show proved, this group of maniac has got the goods. So, they don’t really need to shout out, “The Dwarves ARE rock legends,” but, from a public service standpoint, it’s nice that they do.