Review: Alternative rockers Local H go all out in Jergel's concert

As Local H prepared to play their final song of the night, a fan in the front row held up a pair of prosthetic legs in clear sight of frontman Scott Lucas.

“Now we’re getting nuts,” he said.

Truth be told, there weren’t many moments throughout Local H’s show Thursday night at Jergel’s Rhythm Grille in Warrendale that the two-man band wasn’t going all out.

The veteran alternative rock band, co-founded by Lucas back in 1990, earned a rightly deserved reputation for a high-energy show throughout their career, with Thursday being no exception. Lucas, who sings and plays guitar, hopped frenetically around the stage, while drummer Ronnie Dicola, filling in for regular Ryan Harding, appeared absolutely drenched in sweat three songs into the show.

Lucas thanked the Jergel’s crowd for coming out to see the band on a weeknight, noting that “every night is Friday for us.” (Thursday’s show at Jergel’s was the band’s third show in three nights, sandwiched between a pair of Michigan shows: Wednesday in Flint and Friday in Grand Rapids.)

Although Local H may be best known for its 1996 radio hit “Bound for the Floor,” the Chicago band has carved a career for itself well beyond that one song. Their most recent album, 2020’s “LIFERS,” spawned the name for a podcast that features Lucas, band associate Gabe Rodriguez and Ben Reiser talking with fellow lifelong musicians about their careers. Plus Lucas wrote and directed “Lifers: A Local H Movie,” a documentary/concert film that’s been screened at select theaters.

Local H kick-started the night off with a furious “Fritz’s Corner,” followed by a crushing “Cynic” — the first of three songs from their debut album, “Ham Fisted,” released 30 years ago on Jan. 24, 1995.

Lucas’ self-deprecating humor was evident on “All the Kids Are Right,” with the lyrics of “You heard that we were great, but now you think we’re lame, since you saw the show tonight.”

Songs like “Turn the Bow” showed off their intensity with a heavy intro, while a lengthy “Hey, Rita” featured a chunk of The Replacements’ “Can’t Hardly Wait.” Other mid-set highlights included “Eddie Vedder” and “The Misanthrope.”

An epic “Buffalo Trace,” with Lucas seemingly squeezing sounds out of his guitar, from the top to the bottom of the neck, amid echoing, distorted vocals, closed the set before a brief encore break.

When the duo returned for the encore, one fan aimed higher than just a few songs, drawing an amused “A hundred more?” from Lucas.

“Do you wanna get dark?” Lucas asked. “All right, let’s get dark.”

With that, they started with “That’s What They All Say,” another extended burner that started slow, built up satisfyingly and ended with a sludgy, menacing outro.

Next came “Bound for the Floor,” played with an additional chunk of The Stooges’ “T.V. Eye,” before closing with “High-Fiving MF,” their profanity-laced anthem mocking toxic fans. After creating squealing feedback, Lucas unleashed a rock star spit spray on himself and later borrowed one of the aforementioned prosthetic legs to gently bonk himself in the head, before racing to an ending as heavy as the night’s beginning.

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A pair of local bands opened the show, with Pittsburgh’s 9Sundays starting off, followed by Youngstown, Ohio’s Turbo Lovers (surprisingly, not a Judas Priest cover band). Turbo Lovers, a power trio, channeled the feel of 1970s AC/DC and 1980s hair metal with songs like “Reasons That We Rhyme,” their theme song for “That Rocks,” a YouTube show starring Eddie Trunk, Don Jamieson and Jim Florentine.