Igor & the Red Elvises at Mortimer’s (July 15, 2026)

Igor & the Red Elvises Setlist

1. She Works For KGB
2. Gypsy Heart
3. (Unknown)
4. Earthquake (Kid Andersen cover)
5. (Unknown)
6. Boogie on the Beach
7. (Unknown)
8. Strip Joint Is Closed
9. Drinking With Jesus
10. Sultans of Swing (Dire Straits cover)
11. I Want My Honda Back
12. Peter Gunn (Henry Mancini cover)
13. Red Lips, Red Eyes, Red Stockings
14. Playing in the Band (Grateful Dead cover)
15. Pizza Man From Mars
16. Bacon
17. Love Rocket
18. Closet Disco Dancer
19. Better Than Cocaine

Black Widows Setlist

1. Satan’s Swamphouse
2. Peter Gunn (Henry Mancini cover)
3. Shakedown in Snaketown / Alligator Rally
4. Spaceship Imposter
5. Creatures of the Night
6. I Dream of Jeannie
7. Love Witch #1
8. Mummy Mama Boogie
9. Stampede
10. Mr. Cool
11. Shake Yer Body
12. Runaway Bride

Most of the time, I have my schedule of concerts is well planned out. But every so often, I find something of interest pretty late minute. This is most likely to happen at the smaller bar venues that don’t have live music all the time. I saw an event at nearly the last moment, and knew I had to go for it. Over at Mortimer’s in Minneapolis, it was going to be a night of Eastern rockabilly and surf rock with Igor & the Red Elvises.

Up first was Black Widows, a long-time Twin Cities surf/punk rock band (we last caught them in October 2019, opening for Shonen Knife). They have a number of albums, including 2025’s Creatures of the Night. The trio (guitar/vocals, bass/vocals, and drums) started with some instrumentals, and it was a good warm up to their vibe. That Peter Gunn theme was an excellent song for Corinne Caouette’s reverb heavy guitar and Pamela Laizure’s driving bass. Moving to the new record, Spaceship Imposter had Laizure on lead vocals and those punk tendencies came through like a punch. The title track of the new one was perfect surf rock with both of guitarist and bassist on vocals, and Caouette’s guitar interlude cut through well. Drum work on I Dream of Jeannie was masterful and the band was in a perfect flow, even in the very dark venue. The musicianship on the instrumental Love Witch was great with a pretty spectacular guitar solo, but Black Widows also had the performance angle down as well. When they called for “all the ladies to the front”, they complied and the fun was palpable. Stampede was another instrumental, carrying us to the closing numbers, and it checked all the surf rock items on the list. Cranking the energy all the way up, Shake Yer Body was flying and all instruments got their moment in the spotlight. Finishing with a newer one in Runaway Bride, Black Widows had done everything you could hope for in an opener and it was a reminder of how much fun the surf rock vibe really is.

Headliner Igor & the Red Elvises came to the stage as a quartet (vocals/guitar/keyboards, guitar/vocals, bass, and drums). The LA based band has fourteen albums, with titles like Surfing in Siberia from 1997 to She Works for KGB released in 2017. This was obviously a schtick of Cold War era rockabilly, with some silly lyrics, wild outfits and some stunt props (the bass for instance was nearly three feet wide at its base). But this only ever works if the band has the musical chops to back it up. And there, they were rock solid. She Works for KGB was the high-paced opener that had the audience immediately in sway or even dance mode. Lead singer Igor Yuzov was the charismatic center of the band in a pajama style suit that had to be seen to be believed. The repeated “We’re your favorite band!” and “Are you having fun?” was a great bit throughout the evening. We had a switch of bass and guitar for Peter Grebenyuk to lead some classic eastern folk music, that quickly took a rocking turn with his very gravelly bass vocals. Guitarist Yuri Krivoshein got a pretty classic surf rock song and he made the most of it, with a single shouted lyric of “Earthquake”. It was that kind of band and if you couldn’t smile at this, I think you’ve probably been called an Eeyore before.

Boogie on the Beach was a song featured in the movie Six String Samurai and continued that fast paced Eastern surf combo sound that Igor & the Red Elvises have cornered the market on. With Yuzov back on guitar and lead vocals, things kept moving along and Strip Joint Is Closed was introduced as “the saddest song we have” and brought the tempo down and included a bit of a song along. Krivoshein got an extended guitar solo that was pretty scorching. Drinking with Jesus had more of a country / rockabilly feel and was perfectly ridiculous. A song about “domestic dispute”, I Want My Honda Back had Yuzov and the band at their silliest, all with great music underneath. A fifteen minute break seemed excessive for a Wednesday night, but what can you do? It was amusing that set two started with the Peter Gunn theme, like the opener. It showed how good of an entry that song is into the surf rock themes, but Red Elvises also had a detour for a snippet of Riders on the Storm. Grebenyuk was back on lead vocals and guitar for Red Lips, Red Eyes, Red Stockings, including a whistled interlude on that rockabilly number. Black Widows members were back on the stage for a stretch of songs, with vocals and violin, starting with the super silly Pizza Man from Mars. Love Rocket had the drummer on lead vocals for the first time and it was full rockabilly and that very crowded front line on stage had Caouette on that awkwardly large bass, but with everyone getting their solo moment. The closer, Better Than Cocaine, started with a Presley riff, but of course, took a hard left pretty quickly. Thanking the crowd, Igor & the Red Elvises had closed the evening on a great high.