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Headliner: Katastrophy Wife
Sweetheart
"We'd like to dedicate this set to all the homeless dogs at the RSPCA."
28
Costumes, an animal friendly local band, opened up with a raucous set,
which
interested the crowd at the Liverpool Barfly straight away. A chirpy
American next to me seemed to be their biggest fan demanding all her
favourite songs... which that band dutifully complied with. 28 Costumes
would not looks out of place in NME or MTV2, as their music seems to be
a
blend of home-grown Indie and noisy screeching á la The Hives. Not
entirely
at home playing the opening slot, 28 Costumes have that grown up,
professional 'Rockstars in suits' look and so, of course, they were the
only
band to get up on time.
Flamingo 50 are, let's face it, fabulous on stage. Vocalist Louise is a
younger, punkier and more drunk version of Brody Dalle - the hair, the
clothes, the attitude. Even better, it's not on purpose. At all. And
she has
no ego, no delusions of grandeur; she simply rocks. The liveliest band
of
the night is loud, noisy and sweaty. Clearly inspired by the old Riot
Grrrl
chicks, Flamingo 50 bring it into the 21st Century, and boy does it
sound
good. The new album sounds fabulous and classics such as 'Shame about
Blame'
aren't forgotten either. This is the first time I've seen Flamingo 50
after
hearing their records, and those records truly do them no justice.
Then it gets weird. GU Medicine is so totally out of place I don't know
where to look. I'm so out of synch all I can think about is how much
the
singer resembles Dave Grohl. For about two songs anyway. GU Medicine
play
rock. Just rock. You have to call it rock because its such a jumble to
be
called anything else. They have this amazing lead guitar player and
then
some Emo band reject for a bassist. And I've already mentioned the
whole
Dave Grohl scenario. No-one was expecting them, and no-one wanted to.
They
played loud, I would have danced, but I wanted Katastrophy Wife. Now.
Kat Bjelland is somewhat of a Goddess. No, scrap that. She is a
Goddess. I
am totally in love. From the word 'go' I feel electric. The guitars,
the
feedback, those lungs that must stretch right down to her toes. It has
to be
said Kat has 'The Voice' of everything that is loud. I cannot describe
how
perfect and cathartic it is. When 'Liberty Belle' kicks in that's when
things really go mad. In fact, things rarely slow down, and a rendition
of
Babes in Toyland's own 'Handsome and Gretel' goes down a treat too. The
new
band has given Kat a new lease of life, although she still has those
famous
dresses. The rest of their band perform spectacularly too, and the
addition
of an extra guitar just increases the power of Kat's voice - or so it
seems.
New songs 'Sweetheart' 'Emit Time' and 'Money Shot' scream, literally,
that
loud, noisy music is back, whilst the old songs - 'Git Go', 'Pretty
Car' and
'Gone Away' sound even more ferocious. Katastrophy Wife have to be seen
live, I command you. Kat's back, and she means business.
- (c) Emily Jones, 2004 - [email protected]
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