TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Ball Brings Out Best And Wirtz

ADVERTISEMENT

By CURTIS ROSS cross@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 23, 2008

Updated:

TAMPA - Looking for a wholesome, tasteful, family-oriented Halloween celebration?

Stay well away from Skipper's Smokehouse tonight.

The North Tampa restaurant-nightspot holds its annual Freaker's Ball, a celebration of everything your mother warned you about or never dared imagine.

"It's not recommended for the faint of heart," warns Rev. Billy C. Wirtz, who will once again serve as the event's master of ceremonies.

Wirtz, the boogie-woogie piano satirist and leader of his own First Church of Polyester Worship, can't remember how many Freaker's Balls he has played. But he remembers some of the costumes.

"The one that still bothers me was Sonny Bono," Wirtz recalls. "Half of the costume was Sonny Bono with a ski, and the other half was a tree with another ski sticking out of it."

Did we mention tasteless?

"Political correctness and taste are two terms that don't apply," Wirtz says. "Tampa shows its best at Freaker's Ball - if you like that sort of thing."

It's just the sort of thing Wirtz would like.

He's the bard of the trailer park, singing tales of pro wrestling and love gone weird.

Scan a few titles on his albums - "Mennonite Surf Party," "Teenie Weenie Meanie" and "Sleeper Hold on Satan," for example - and you'll get an idea about Wirtz World.

But live is the way to experience Wirtz's peculiar brand of salvation. Six-foot-five and heavily tattooed, he pounds out boogie and blues on his keyboard while spinning tales that threaten to spin off into the totally surreal. But he always manages to bring them back to his own particular patch of scorched earth.

Originally from South Carolina and now based on Florida's east coast, Wirtz has made Skipper's a second home for close to 20 years.

He calls it one of the "extended temples" of The First House of Polyester Worship.

"Some of my best shows and biggest crowds have been at Skipper's," Wirtz says.

He's doing a lot more than playing shows these days, though.

He's the host of a radio show, "The Rev. Billy's Rhythm Revival," on Melbourne's WFIT, 98.7 FM. He writes a travel column for The Charlotte Observer called "Dixie Detours." He has written articles on musical heroes such as Thomas Dorsey, the bluesman turned hymn composer, and Wayne Cochran, the underrated white soul singer who now runs a ministry in Miami.

A book collecting his lyrics and stories is in the works, titled, naturally, "Sermons and Songs From the First House of Polyester Worship."

Tonight, though, his focus will be on the throngs of sinners and the overall depravity of the Freaker's Ball.

"I'm glad I'll be there to add a spiritual aspect to an otherwise totally carnal event," Wirtz says. "Dress lightly. Just attending might end you up in the seventh ring of hell."

MUSIC EVENT

Freaker's Ball

WITH: Unknown Hinson and Rev. Billy C. Wirtz

WHEN: 8 tonight

WHERE: Skipper's Smokehouse, 910 Skipper Road, Tampa; (813) 971-0666

COST: $15

Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568 or cross@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT