Bratmobile at Warsaw (photo by Kate Hoos)
Over 30 years after their first performances in 1991, riot grrrl pioneers Bratmobile still maintain the fun punk rock energy they started out with all those years ago, which they shared with an appreciative and enthusiastic sold out crowd at Warsaw this past weekend. This night also served as their first performance in NYC in more than two decades. Their simple but high-octane tunes are anchored by the hard driving percussion of founding member Molly Neuman and are still led by singer Allison Wolfe’s bubbly, charismatic presence. She thanked the excited audience for singing along since she was losing her voice, which honestly didn’t even feel obvious, as she seems to have only gotten better with age.
The current lineup of Neuman and Wolfe (original guitarist Erin Smith had other commitments) also includes Rose Melberg (Tiger Trap, The Softies) on guitar, Marty Key (Ted Leo, Young Pioneers) on bass and Ladyfest co-founder Audrey Marrs (Mocket) on keyboards; the latter two also appeared on Bratmobile’s 2002 album Girls Get Busy. The setlist popped off right away with “Love Thing” and included a number of fan favorites across their catalog including “Cool Schmool,” “Cheap Trick Record,” “Bitch Theme” and “Panik.” Wolfe allowed the photographers to stay for two extra songs, which was certainly welcome as she pulled off some photogenic moves, including an almost split, a feat she tried again near the end to even more success.
Wolfe banters quite a lot in between the songs, bringing an adorable and lovable nervous energy to the set while adding funny anecdotes such as being a “pack rat” in life and in writing: “I hoard words, and make sure the entire song, every bit is filled with a word… it’s kind of exhausting!” Before “The Real Janelle,” the title track of their 1994 EP, she told the tale of how the band wrote the track in response to the Born Against/Ben Weasel song “Janelle,” a rude take on East Bay fanzine creator (“Tales of Blarg,” “Desperate Times”) and Bratmobile roadie Janelle Hessig; Wolfe mentioned they penned the song on the fly after Hessig played them the tape in the van on tour, and they had it ready to go before the next show.
Friends and family were a theme of the night, as Wolfe mentioned they’ve known Melberg since they traded mixtapes in the early 90’s and they covered a song from her band Tiger Trap, “Supreme Nothing” later in the set. (Also Melberg noted “might be a new Softies record coming out” which we are definitely here for). The band had family in attendance that they shouted out, including Wolfe’s little sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and her identical twin sister (who was wearing a Cheap Trick shirt presumably in fun reference to the Bratmobile song as much as to the band) and Marrs’ children who came out for “Cherry Bomb” during the encore to sing along on stage.
Bratmobile at Warsaw (photo by Kate Hoos)
Bratmobile were joined on the bill by local post-art-punk provocateurs cumgirl8 who signed with 4AD last year. They opened the show and came out hard with their groove heavy sound and wild stage presence, surely winning over many new fans in the process. Political dance punks Downtown Boys provided direct support and played in front of a backdrop of images detailing the ongoing struggle of the Palestinian people with clips taken from the films Intifada: Road to Freedom and They Do Not Exist. The band has long been vocal about this issue and certainly did not hold back on this night either. Wolfe noted later in the evening that Downtown Boys are one of her favorite bands largely in part because of their unwavering commitment to social justice. Guitarist Joey DeFrancesco also minced no words on where the band stands with the corporatization of the music industry telling the audience “Fuck LiveNation” near the end of their set (Warsaw was bought out and taken over by LiveNation last year) who roared in approval. The band hasn’t released an album since 2017’s Cost of Living but has been working on new music and took the opportunity to debut a few new songs at the show.
It would be safe to say that this was a special night for most of the assembled and we at FTA would certainly be included; this was more than “just another show” on the calendar to cover for us. Bratmobile is a band that is woven deep into the fabric of these pages, their sassy take on life and punk rock serving equally for inspiration and more than a few laughs over the years along with their “fuck you we’ll do it ourselves” attitude cementing our outlook on the world. And without Erin Smith’s straightforward, no frills guitar riffs, FTA founder Hoos may never have felt confident enough to pick up a guitar, Smith’s approach helping to form the basis of Hoos’ style—she played their ear worm “Cheap Trick Record” for years in her band Lady Bizness and later formed a full on (though sadly short lived) Bratmobile cover band. So yes, this was a very special night indeed. The lyrics of their classic rallying cry “I’m in the Band” are a foundational part of our ethos and words we come back to again and again in our daily lives; we yelled them out with glee at the show:
Scroll down for setlist, pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
Setlist: Love Thing, I’m in the Band, The Real Janelle, Cheap Trick Record, Cool Schmool, Eating Toothpaste, Kiss and Ride, Gimme Brains, Panik, Not in Dog Years, Bitch Theme, 90’s Nomad, Brat Girl, Come Hither Encore: Girlfriends Don’t Keep, Supreme Nothing (Tiger Trap cover), Queenie, Cherry Bomb (Runaways cover)
CUMGIRL8
DOWNTOWN BOYS
BRATMOBILE
