Tenacious D Rocks The Garden's Socks

When one sees Jack Black perform, one doesn't know whether to take him seriously or not, but judging by his latest performance with comedic/musician partner-in-tow, Kyle Gass, on December 1 at Madison Square Garden, this writer can admit that Jack Black is the real deal.

Tenacious D is everything that a "smart" music-comedy fan loves: crazy over-the-top lyrics, skillful acoustic guitar doodling, and last but not least, head-banging rock and roll.

The show opened as if we 16,000 crazy fans were invited to Kyle's house and the band just happened to be taking a little nap to cool their creative juices. Forgetting they have a show to do, Jack and Kyle slowly wake up from their daze and strap on their acoustic guitars for a rousing rendition of "Kielbasa" and "History." The opening set was not without pleasing the rock gods, as the duo payed tribute to arena-rock superstars, Queen, with a variation of "Flash" before leading into the D's hit of "Wonderboy."

After a brief appearance by Tenacious D's friend Lee, who ended up spilling beer all over the floor, the D decided it was time to go electric. But as Mr. Black was attempting to plug Kyle's guitar, the group suffered the unfortunate circumstance of being electricuted, where a video screen was lowered and propelled the duo into hell itself.

While in hell, Kyle and Jack recruited a band full of "dead celebrities" including Col. Sanders on drums, Charlie Chaplin on bass, and the "Anti-Christ" (who looks identically like Jesus Christ) on lead guitar. As the video screen fell, the stage now looked like hell with a full band set-up, and the band immediately kicked the show into high gear with rousing versions of "Kickapoo", "Explosivo", and "Karate."

The set then took a slow and somewhat emotional turn, with a heartfelt version of "Dude (I Totally Miss You)" followed by "Kyle Quit The Band." Satan also made an appearance with a rocking version of "Beelzeboss."

The encore featured a heartfelt song to the women in the audience in the form of "F--- Her Gently," followed by Tenacious D's biggest hit, "Tribute." The show closed on a very rock and roll moment, as the D jammed out a very good medly of songs from The Who's "Tommy", featuring "Pinball Wizard" and "Go To The Mirror Boy!"

The only drawback was the crowd, which is unusual for a Madison Square Garden show, seemed to sit on their hands for most of the show, and were waiting for "Tribute." Overall, the show was a fun affair of comedy and music like only Jack Black and Kyle Gass can provide. The comedic elements of the D's band and guest appearances by "Satan" only hightened the enjoyment.