I have seen the future of rock and roll, and it’s called The Linda Lindas!
Of course the basis of that quote was written almost 50 years ago about a 25 year old “kid” from New Jersey. That “kid” is now selling tickets to his upcoming tour for multiple 4 figures. The Linda Lindas on the other hand, played Bowery Ballroom on Monday night with a ticket price of $20. Oh, and The Linda Lindas are legitimate KIDS too. Ranging in age from 11 through 17, the young girls from LA put on a show which, if nothing else, reminded us elders as to what rock and roll is supposed to be all about, something that skinny dude from the Jersey Shore did back in ’74. I left Bowery on Monday night absolutely speechless and completely bowled over as to what I’d just witnessed. Which was, on the surface, four girls from Los Angeles spending their summer vacation in front of packed concert halls and clubs, on stage playing their hearts out and having an absolute blast in doing so. But it was so much more than that.
I first learned of The Linda Lindas last year when their video of “Racist, Sexist Boy” which was shot at the Los Angeles Public Library went viral. Upon seeing it, I knew immediately that this band had “it” and I would need to see them if and whenever A) Covid ever ended and B) they were old enough to tour. Well imagine how stoked I was when I discovered they were added as an opener to play at Jawbreakers‘s Irving Plaza shows in earlier this year (see our coverage of night one). I already had tickets for one of these shows so the punk rock gods were surely looking down on me. Well suffice it to say, those very same gods must have gone on vacation because the week of those shows at Irving Plaza I came down with Covid and had to miss them. The band also scheduled their own headlining show at Mercury Lounge on an off day during that run which I obviously couldn’t make either (see our coverage). DAMN YOU COVID!
The Linda Lindas “Racist, Sexist Boy”
The band was next scheduled to play a handful of festivals during their summer break from school during which they were able to fit in a club show here and there. One night at Music Hall of Williamsburg and one at Bowery Ballroom, two perfect rooms. As fate would have it, due to a scheduling conflict I couldn’t make the MHOW show. Then Covid reared its ugly head once again and the Bowery show was postponed and the MHOW show ultimately moved to October due to someone in the touring party testing positive. Fortunately the Bowery Ballroom show was able to proceed a little less than a week after the original date.
Which brings us to Monday evening. Knowing Bowery doesn’t have a designated photo pit, I decided to arrive early to stake out a spot at the stage. I immediately felt guilty when I saw that I was surrounded by a significant amount of pre teen girls pining for The Lindas. I would ultimately stay up front for only the first three songs, abdicating my spot to more deserving kids. I, of course, was well aware that this was an all ages show, but I was truly surprised to see the multitude of kids (with parents in tow) in the crowd. It was quite awesome to see.
The band hit the stage right on cue at 8:30 with the perfect opener: “Growing Up,” the title track to their debut album. The tune absolutely set the tone for the entire evening with the band jumping, dancing, laughing, smiling and camping it up all while singing the apropos lyrics:
We’ll dance like nobody’s there
We’ll dance without any cares
We’ll talk bout problems we share
We’ll talk bout things that ain’t fair
We’ll sing bout things we don’t know
We’ll sing to people and show
What it means to be young
And growing up.
The Linda Lindas
And of course each and every kid in the audience sang every word right along with the band, all the while capturing the video on a multitude of smartphones. It’s kind of funny, normally the abundance of cell phones capturing each and every moment of a show will annoy me. But for this band, this night and this audience, it seemed right. This after all was the Tik Tok generation and to this boomer, it all seemed spot on.
I was completely mesmerized by the proficiency each of the band members had with their perspective instruments. These teens have CHOPS! and talent beyond their years, not to mention socially mature as well. For a bunch of young teens to stand on stage in front of a packed club and not only perform masterfully, but to also be able to communicate intelligently and coherently to the crowd between songs is something that any parent would be incredibly proud of. Sure there was the teenage giggling and “teens being teens” moments, but that just added to the charm of The Linda Lindas stage persona.
I honestly can’t say it enough: between Bela (guitar), Mila (drums), Eloise (bass), and Lucia (guitar), each and every one of these girls was having a blast on stage. They were living their dream and sharing it with countless young girls in the audience who were likewise having the times of their lives watching their peers onstage. They so wonderfully prove that there is a place where young kids can be themselves, can do what they want, have fantastic time doing it and most importantly, succeed in doing so. Getting to see this in real time was so refreshing.
The Linda Lindas
All that being said, I can’t help but think that this was much more than just a concert. The 16 song set included everything from both the Linda Lindas EP as well as Growing Up in addition to their cover of The Go Go’s hit “Tonight” which after playing it in their live sets for quite some time now, the band finally released a studio version of it this week. The Go Go’s are obviously a big influence on The Linda Lindas; they’ve borrowed heavily from that Go Go sound and honestly built on it quite effectively. I’d like to add that I was lucky enough to have seen The Go Go’s at their first NYC show at the Mudd Club back in 1980. And while The Go Go’s were already in their early to mid 20’s at that time, The Linda Lindas are already light years ahead of where their predecessors were in terms of chops and musicianship.
The Linda Lindas “Tonite” (Go Go’s Cover)
The closing tune of the evening was another cover, this time Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl” during which the band was joined on stage by the members of opening band, Bacchae. This is another tune which has been a staple of the Lindas’ live set for some time now but despite having seen YouTube videos of it, I was not even remotely prepared for how powerful it would prove to be as the closing number in person. With the stage packed with all of these strong, confident, and talented young women screaming the iconic lines “Rebel girl! Rebel girl! Rebel girl you are the queen of my world!” one couldn’t help but feel that maybe, just maybe, this next generation might be equipped to fix this mess of a world to which we are leaving them. Which brings to mind another lyric of The Linda Lindas from their aforementioned hit song “Racist, Sexist Boy” which reads “we rebuild what you destroy.”
Leaving Bowery Ballroom on Monday night, this aging boomer couldn’t help but feel a tinge of optimism that the state of rock and roll and maybe/hopefully society in general is in much better shape than I’d previously thought.
Australia’s Camp Cope found their way back to New York City this past Wednesday night at Webster Hall for the first time since their 2019 show at Brooklyn’s Warsaw, and needless to say, it was quite the triumphant return. A lot has happened in those 3 years (duhhh). Of course there was Covid, the same Covid which squashed a much anticipated joint solo show at Trans-Pecos which Georgia Maq and Kelly-Dawn Helmrich had planned for Spring 2020. Then of course Maq went back to her day job of nursing, dealing with the Covid outbreak head on. And Helmrich is now expecting her first child.
So it was obvious right from the outset that this Camp Cope was not the same one as the band of shy, bashful and yet extremely confident women that I’d first met in the courtyard of Silent Barn eating takeout pizza before their first ever US gig opening for Jeff Rosenstock (and yet in many ways it was). The obvious physical difference was the addition of Jenny Aslett on second guitar. Furthermore there was Lou Hanman filling in for the too pregnant to tour halfway around the world Helmrich on bass. But that wasn’t all of it. Maq, herself was different (and yet the same) as well. It was almost as if she’s grown into the role of being Georgia. I don’t mean to say that she’s putting on an act onstage but it seems clear to me that she’s now comfortable enough onstage to be the person that those who follow her on the socials are familiar with.
On Wednesday night we were privy to seeing both sides of the front woman. We got the imp who thrives on being a coquettish tease as well as the understated awe struck new comer. I mean not too many could possibly describe a walk through Central Park earlier that day where they witnessed not only one man self pleasuring himself but also another one later on deficating in public with both horror and disgust as well as giggly “wow what a great day” enthusiasm. But she pulled it off glowingly to the delight of the audience.
Camp Cope at Webster Hall
Ok, enough of all that. Now, the show! Opener, Kiley Lotz aka Petal is a true gem and should be paid attention to way more than they are. After only ONE rehearsal (this being their first full band show since pandemic) the four band members put on a wonderful, snappy and entertaining set of Petal favorites, including their magical cover of Stevie Nicks’ “Silver Springs”, which she introduced with the vignette that if Stevie hadn’t been able to have an abortion there would have been no Fleetwood Mac. What a damn shame that would have been. (And it’s also why reproductive rights are so important, so women can live their full lives on their own terms without compromise or apology.)
Camp Cope came out and opened their set with, appropriately enough “Keep Growing,” a single from 2016 which was later included on a split they released in 2017 with Cayetana. They followed that with “Jealous,” a real crooner off of the new album, Running with the Hurricane. As I mentioned earlier, the band is touring this go around with a different lineup and the results were evident right from the get go. With the addition of a second guitarist, Maq is now freed up to just focus on her singing, something she was not able to do previously as the group’s only guitarist. And at this point, let me say that her singing? <Chef’s Kiss> After having throat surgery a few years back, it’s safe to say she is fully recovered and sounding better than ever. This was quite self evident on the album already but that doesn’t always translate in a live setting. In Maq’s case it certainly does and she sounded fantastic. And as long as I’m discussing vocals, the addition of Aslett as well as Hanman on background vocals adds a whole new dimension to the group’s sound, one which I never realized was missing. But now that I’ve heard it, I absolutely love it.
After alternating a couple of new and older tracks, Sarah Thompson (how have I gotten this far and not mentioned the backbone and self proclaimed “mother” of Camp Cope, Thommo?) starts us off with a killer Charlie Watts drum intro which has me thinking, “they’re not gonna Brown Sugar are they?” They didn’t. But they did do a totally rad version of “The Mountain” from the new album which sounded a lot different from the album version, much more of an upbeat rocker than the recorded version.
Camp Cope at Webster Hall
By this point in the show, Maq had picked up the guitar and you could really appreciate the addition of the second guitar to the band’s sound. Not surprisingly, it was so much fuller, so much rounder than it had been in year’s past. Which also brings me to Kelly-Dawn Helmrich’s replacement on bass, Lou Hanman. I’ve been very familiar with Hanman as a musician for some time now. It seems like she’s played in virtually every band that’s come out of Philadelphia in recent memory. Oh and by the way, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that her solo project, All Away Lou, released a banger of an album, Things Will Change, earlier in the year which should most certainly be checked out. So her musicianship was never in doubt when I heard that she would be filling in on this tour on bass. BUT, let’s face it, Helmrich has a very distinct bass style, basically playing “lead” bass. Those bass riffs are as important to the Camp Cope sound as is Maq’s mellifluous singing. Suffice it to say, and not completely surprising, Hanman has nailed it. Especially on “Lost (Season One),” she killed it on the rolling bassline arpeggios, keeping the song flowing at a perfect breakneck pace.
To my ears two of the highlights of the evening were the (arguably) best two songs from Hurricane,“Blue” and the title track, “Running With the Hurricane.” Both songs came to life in a live setting with the band playing at full tilt, the crowd singing along in unison and of course Maq doing her thing front and center. “Blue” also, to the delight of the crowd, mixed in the chorus to Wheatus’s “Teenage Dirtbag”…I guess Dawson’s Creek was syndicated in Australia after all.
Closing out the evening was a slapping version of “The Opener.” I mean what else do you close out your set with other than a song with that title. With the entire room jumping and screaming, it dawned on me that this by far was the most electrified I’d ever seen a Camp Cope crowd get. And that ladies, gentlemen, and fellow human beings is a testament to how far this band has come and grown in their relatively short time together.
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Ray Rusinak)
According to their Facebook “about” page, “Elway is an American punk rock band from Fort Collins, Colorado. Their sound is a unique and inebriated take on a time-tested formula: aggressive punk rock with soaring melodies coupled with lyrics ranging from that of the sad sap to the indignant atheist with a bevy of homespun dick jokes.” This pretty much sums the band up quite well. I would go a little further to say that they fall smack in the middle of that category of bands that you scratch your head wondering why they aren’t more popular. Their brand of pop punk should be much appreciated by fans of bands like The Menzingers, The Lawrence Arms, Make War and even Alkaline Trio, yet they still languish in relative obscurity. Having formed back in 2007 under the name 10-4 Eleanor, the band released one album, “…Too Bad”in 2008.Then in 2010 the band signed to Red Scare Industries and changed their name to Elway (somewhat to the chagrin of the Hall of Fame Quarterback and then executive of the Denver Broncos, John Elway).
Over the years Elway has released about nine LPs and EPs via Red Scare, including the recently released The Best Of All Possible Worlds. According to the band, its the best thing they’ve ever done, and while bands are obviously supposed to say things like this, I wholeheartedly agree. From the opening acapella lines of opening tune, “Pangloss,” to the syncopated drum beats of closer “The Jetty,” this album, song for song, is a banger.
Elway for a multitude of reasons (none of which are all too clear) do not tour all that much here in the Northeast. More often than not, they’ll do a show or two in Chicago, do The Fest down in Gainesville, FL and random local shows around their hometown of Fort Collins. But other than this, their tours have been slim pickings in these parts. I hadn’t seen them since they played Suburbia a good nine years ago, so I was totally stoked when I saw that their 10 show tour would include Sovereign Smokehouse here in Brooklyn.
Elway at Sovereign
Opening band, Philly’s The Holy Mess, haven’t been too active of late but provided quite an energetic opening set. From what I could gather the band hadn’t played any live shows since 2016 but with the 10 year anniversary of their seminal album, Cande Ru Las Degas and an opportunity to tour with labelmates Elway, how could they resist? Anyway, lead singer and bassist, Steve-O led the band through a rip roaring set heavy on the aforementioned album which had the front of the stage screaming and yelling to almost every word.
After a quick equipment change Elway took the stage and wasted no time whatsoever, starting off with lead singer/guitarist, Tim Browne, blasting his way through “Maximum Entropy” off the new album followed by “Lunatic Thirteens” off of 2015’s Better Whenever LP. Moving forward, Brown along with bassist Joe Henderer, drummer Bill Orender and guitarist Brian Van Proyen managed to keep the crowd captivated and energized, mixing various songs from the older albums with choice cuts from Best of All Possible Worlds.
In a night filled with highlights, the best moments of the evening for me was when Brian started a slow guitar riff, followed by Bill’s steady drum beat and finally Tim’s almost spoken word intro to “Song For Eric Solomon To Sing” from the 2011 epic Delusions LP.And before you even knew it the entire room was screaming the words back at them:
So rat me out to the scene police cause I’d rather be living
Rather be living
Well these are our friends they’re not commodities
And don’t you forget it
Don’t you forget it
Elway at Sovereign
And then 2 songs later the boys broke into a scorching version of “The English Wishbone” which once again had the entire room screaming at the top of their lungs:
I don’t really want to talk now, baby
I don’t want to think about it anymore
Sooner or later this will all start fading
We’ll have all the time we need to mourn
Truth be told Elway hasn’t seemed to have missed a single beat in the nine years since that insane beer soaked night at Suburbia. They maintained an incredible breakneck pace throughout the set and Tim Browne’s indelible stage persona has grown and only become even more enjoyable over the years. Finishing off the evening, the band had its keen sense of humor front and center as they came back for an encore of The Killer’s “All These Things I’ve Done”. Browne joked at the end of the set that the band would be back in Brooklyn real soon only to add the kicker that by Elway standards “real soon” probably meant more like four or five years. Such a shame, such a shame.
Setlist: Maximum Entropy, Lunatic Thirteens, Hold On, The Infirm Dreamers Dream, Dear Colorado, Song For Eric Solomon to Sing, Folly For Death, The English Wishbone, The Rest Is Posthumous, Patria Mia (Room 20)
Encore: All These Things I’ve Done (The Killers cover)
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Ray Rusinak)
Back in September and October of 2012, The Melvins set out to accomplish what no one else had ever done. They played shows in all 50 States (and Washington DC) in 51 days. Buzz Osborne, lead singer and guitarist for The Melvins had this to say of that tour, “If stupidity got us into this mess then why can’t it get us out?” You have to wonder if Frank Turner conferred with Buzz prior to taking on his 50 States in 50 Days Tour of the US. And while Turner clearly has the advantage of doing this tour while traveling in a rather luxurious tour bus vs. the Econoline van that The Melvins drove themselves in, it’s also true that the Melvins only had themselves to worry about. Pulling this endeavor off with a touring entourage of multiple dozens of musicians, stage crew, and support staff adds a whole other dimension which The Melvins didn’t have to deal with.
AND OH YEAH, there’s also this little world wide pandemic called Covid which we just can’t seem to say goodbye to which will constantly be hovering over this tour as well. Well in any event, Turner and his crew rolled into New York City on Monday 6/20 for day number eight and show number ten of the tour. Actually it would be shows number ten AND eleven since Frank would be doing a midnight show at Crossroads in Garwood, NJ just about an hour after the lights went down at the Knockdown Center in Queens.
Truth be told, I was less than enthused when it was announced months ago that the NY show would be at Knockdown Center. I’d never been there but I’d heard through the grapevine that it was a rather cavernous space which was more often than not used for events rather than concerts. Anyway, upon arriving at Knockdown shortly after 6pm, I was pleasantly surprised to find the room not nearly as big as I had feared and it was laid out rather nicely as well. And for those who just read 6pm and immediately thought, “oh there’s a typo”, no 6pm is correct. With four bands playing and with Turner playing a midnight show afterwards an hours drive away, things were starting early and a tight schedule was (hoped to be) adhered to.
Opening band Pet Needs from Colchester, UK hit the stage at precisely 6:30 and wasted no time diving into their anthemic pop punk repertoire. I’d heard good things about them from friends who’d seen them earlier in the week in Portland so I was anxious to see what they were about. With this being their first time not only touring but also their first time ever visiting the States, suffice it to say the lads were quite stoked to be in New York. Their set was energetic and lively, comprised mostly of songs from their 2022 EP The Fractured Party Vol. I and last year’s LP, Fractured Party Music. And “party” is clearly an apt way of describing Pet Needs. I highly suggest catching them when they make their way back to our environs.
Next up was The Bronx who’ve been making the rounds in the punk (and Mariachi) world for years now. Hailing from Los Angeles, these hardcore punks hit the scene hard back in 2002 and that’s exactly how they hit the stage on Monday night, hard and loud. ead singer, Matt Caughthran hit the stage running with “White Shadow,” a banger which opens up the band’s latest LP The Bronx VI. The rest of their set was a fast and furious mix of songs from all six of the band’s albums which had the circle pit in full swing almost from the get go.
The last of the opening acts was none other than punk stalwarts, Avail. They are one of those bands which holds a deep spot in every aging punk rocker’s heart. Joining the tour for a select set of northeast shows, having them on this bill was an absolute treat. Although I for one clearly fall within the aging punk rocker category, I missed Avail during their heyday in the early to mid 90’s…something about raising two young boys kind of kept me out of the circuit for a while. The good news is that I got to share this Avail show with both of the boys, which is pretty damned cool. Having grown to know and appreciate Tim Barry via his second career as acoustic troubadour, it was quite a sight to see him screaming and bouncing all over the stage along with Beau Beau, the group’s self proclaimed cheerleader. With a set comprised of mostly songs from the 90’s albums, they proved to be the punk juggernaut that their reputation always claimed them to be.
Avail
It would have been a difficult enough task to have to follow any one of the three openers, but to have to come out after all three surely put the pressure on Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls. Taking the stage just past 9pm, Turner opened the evening up with an unusual starter for him in “Four Simple Words” from 2013’s stellar Tape Deck Heart album. Usually a song which is saved for later in his set, it’s also a song to which Frank goes into the crowd to dance with someone. I can’t help but think that due to Covid, crashing the crowd is off limits this tour and using the song as an opener was a good way of not only avoiding this but also setting the tone for what was to come. Either way, it worked masterfully.
Moving forward, Turner and The Sleeping Souls proceeded to play a mix of tried and true classics like “Photosynthesis,” “I Am Disappeared” (to which they added a nice new arrangement to), “Recovery,” and “Ballad Of Me and My Friends” to just name a few. But what Frank really pulled off nicely was his mixing in the new material in with the old and making the new songs feel totally familiar. The interspersion of songs like “The Gathering,” and “Haven’t Been Doing So Well” early on in the set felt absolutely seamless.
There were a couple of songs which especially stuck out for me however. First and foremost by far was “1933” from 2018’s Be More Kind collection. While this album opened Turner up to a much wider audience here in the States, I’ve never been completely enamored by its poppy sensibilities. However, “1933” is an absolute punk rock protest banger and on Monday night it absolutely ripped. And as hard as it might be to actually put into print, it just might be one of his most powerful (non personal) songs he’s ever written.
Frank Turner
One more highlight was the inclusion of “Out of Breath,” a song which doesn’t get paid much attention to from the 2015 LP Positive Songs For Negative People. A high spirited rocker, it fit in quite nicely coming off of “1933.” And interestingly, his following “Out of Breath” with his new song about his father, “Miranda” from this year’s FTHCwas another non obvious yet masterful segue. While “Miranda” might not be my favorite song from the new album, Frank’s introduction and rendition of it on stage opened my eyes to it being a much better song structurally than I’d previously thought.
This brings me to the song which absolutely broke me. Scott Hutchison, the late singer from Frightened Rabbit, was a close friend of Turner’s. Scott’s passing was devastating enough for his fans but for actual real life friends of his like Frank it was brutal. Over the years since Scott left us, Turner would often play Hutchison’s song “The Modern Leper” on special nights. Anyway, Frank wrote a tribute to Scott for the recent FTHC album called “A Wave Across A Bay” which on Monday night hit home hard because as he said in the intro, his death broke his heart. But as sad as this story is, its also triumphant because Scott was “fucking great…and he smelt good”. And then as fate would have it, the song to follow “Wave” would be “The House Where I Was Raised” and as someone who is in the process of cleaning out and saying goodbye to their childhood home, well you can see where it might have been more than just sweat rolling down my cheek at this point in the show.
Needless to say, the show again picked up from there as only a Frank Turner show can. He after all is a master at the art of creating a show of ebbs and flows, an incredible and true entertainer, who despite periods of gut wrenching emotions, knows how to take those very same emotions and turn them into ecstatic glee as if turning a switch. I know that I am not an objective voice when it comes to Frank Turner the performer and artist, but I don’t care. His songs reach out to me in ways not many other songwriters have. He can have me in an emotional puddle of tears one second and then jumping up and down like a god damned fool the next. He’s not for everyone, I get that…but he ought to be.
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Ray Rusinak)
Gang Of Four at Brooklyn Made (photo by Ray Rusinak)
When it was announced last October that Gang of Four would be touring the States in 2022, I looked at it with eager anticipation being as for some reason or another, I had never seen the band live before. But truth be told, I also carried a bit of trepidation about the prospect. I mean, as big a fan of David Pajo (of Slint among want others) as I am, would he be able to fill Andy Gill’s rather large shoes? (Gill tragically passed away in February 2020.) Also, this was 2022 not 1981 and lead singer Jon King had certainly aged just as much as I have over the years. Would he be able to maintain the crazed stage presence of the past or would it be some watered down “oldies” show? As things turned out, my worries proved to be totally unfounded, as the Gang played an absolutely incredible show on Monday night at a packed Brooklyn Made.
Arriving at the venue around 7:30, I was able to procure a spot up front just to the right of the stage. The show didn’t have an opening act per se but rather in classic early 80’s style we were entertained by DJ Night Nurse (AKA Amy Wachtel) who managed to get the growing crowd moving with an eclectic mix of roots reggae, punk and post punk dance tunes.
Gang of Four took the stage around 9:30 with each band member meandering onto the stage one by one, culminating with Jon King, before they kick started the set with their opening tune “Return the Gift” from their 1978 debut full length LP Entertainment. And I have to say that my fears of King not being up to the task of performing with his youthful exuberance were immediately put to rest. King hit the stage like a dervish— flailing, spinning and bouncing all over the stage. From here the band moved on to what was pretty much a best of selection of songs from their late 70’s and early 80’s albums, Entertainment, Solid Gold and Songs of The Free with classics like “Not Great Men,” “We Dream As We Live, Alone,” and “Ether.” Throughout this first part of the show, King had been moving back and forth, up and down all over the place pretty much non stop. So when he left the stage for a moment after “Ether,” it wasn’t at all surprising to see him (out of sight from most of the crowd) fall to his knees and guzzle a bottle of water to catch a second wind of sorts. While this was all happening off stage, the band didn’t miss a beat with Pajo taking over vocal duties on a hypnotic version of “Paralysed” off the Solid Gold album.
The time off stage served King just fine as he returned and pretty much had the frenzied crowd of late middle aged former punks and millennials eating out of his hand. Coming back onstage with the fan favorite “Love Like Anthrax” sent the crowd right over the edge only to have the hysteria brought to a whole other level during the ensuing song, “He’d Send In The Army” during which King proceeded to smash a microwave oven to bits with a baseball bat all the while keeping time with the rhythm section of Hugo Burnham on drums and Sara Lee on bass. And while this is a stage antic which they’ve been doing for years, it certainly is still quite dramatic. To see a man, well into his late 60’s as King is, continue to demonstrate the rage and angst to which he displayed when he was a rebellious 20 something is something to celebrate (if not, unfortunately lament).
After scathing versions of “I Parade Myself” and “What We All Want”, the band got funky with their 1981 MTV dance floor classic “I Love A Man In A Uniform,” to which they were joined on stage with backup singers Dolette McDonald as well as Hugo Burnham’s daughter, Tess Burnham. This seems like as good a time as any to state how much fun it looked like everyone in the band looked to be having. Sara Lee seemed to have a permanent smile across her face all night long. The majestic Burnham sitting atop the drum riser looked like he was having a blast peering down on King’s stage antics, all the while keeping a meticulous and steadfast back beat. And of course there was Pajo, the newest member of the band. Dressed in his snappy three button suit, he performed all night with a stoic precision which beautifully recreated Andy Gill’s rather unique guitar style and yet still maintain his own sense of style in doing so. It was even more pleasing to witness Pajo, who has experienced some mental health issues in the not too distant past, showing a sense of enjoyment in what he was doing up there on stage. When he and Lee exchanged glances at various points throughout the evening, you would be hard pressed to not have noticed the smile cracking through on his face. This, in and of itself, was a joy to witness and it alone was well worth the price of admission.
Nonetheless, the band kept the pace going as the show wound to a close with a mix of “To Hell With Poverty,” “Capital (It Falls Us Now),” and “Call Me Up,” to end the set. Closing out the encore with the all so appropriate “Damaged Goods,” with its anthemic chorus of “goodbye, goodbye, goodbye…” and the crowd screaming and repeating the words over and over right back at King, it is safe to say upon conclusion of the show that the sold out crowd had to have been happy with what they were so lucky enough to have just witnessed.
Scroll down for more pics of the show (photos by Ray Rusinak)
