In
marked contrast to what their poor to middling
studio recordings had lead to expect from
them, SoCal's self-described
"post-art-punk-power-pop-wave" metrosexuals,
THE ADORED,
turned out to be a pretty good live act.
Vocalist Television Ryan's histrionics-filled
delivery, shaking off a pair of creepers
during a cover of The Speedies' blithe ode to
horny groupies, "Let Me Take Your Foto", and
crawling across the stage in his neon green
socks to "take pictures" of everyone upfront
with a toy camera, and Drew 17's jangle 'n'
crunch guitar hooks on "Tell Me Tell Me",
"Savage Youth" and "Chemistry" bearing little
if any resemblance to the sonic anemia of the
group's recent debut CD,
A New
Language, and their Britpop/dance
influenced E.P. from 2004. My girlfriend, on
the other hand, who was with me in the crowd,
would disagree to put it mildly. Dismissing
them outright as "coked-out LA shagg-heads
trying way too hard and failing to be The
Buzzcocks."
THE
EPOXIES, one of the better
examples of the Pacific Northwest's late 90's
neo-new wave scene, got off to a humorously
rough start when their lit-up banner
(decorated with rows of Christmas tree bulbs
illuminating the letters of their name)
partially shorted-out on the first "E" causing
it to read "POXIES" after a long and difficult
soundcheck. Still, they managed to deliver a
great performance. Keyboardist FM Static and
charismatic vocalist Roxy Epoxy laughing off
these setbacks, and endearing themselves to
the audience in the process - the latter
giggling, "As you can tell, we're nothing if
not professional", before leading guitarist
Viz Spectrum, drummer Ray Cathode and bassist
Shock Diode into a deliriously hyperkinetic
set of sci-fi synth-filled, beat-heavy
electro-punk. Accompanied by glowing lasers,
flashing strobe lights, smoke and bubble
machines, and geometric patterned duct-tape
outfits, it was everything new wave
could
have been in the 80's but wasn't.
Eliciting
salacious wolf-whistles,
MIMI LEMEAUX,
a burlesque dancer and self-described "scream
queen", proceeded the headliners with a
strip-tease down to her glittering red pasties
and thong. Sashaying off to the spooky
resonance of a thunderstorm crashing over the
house speakers with a tombstone shaped placard
held above her head that read "Ladies and
gentlemen...THE
DAMNED" as the band
dramatically took to the stage. Kicking into
"New Rose" and "Wait For The Blackout"
followed by an evenhanded selection from
Damned Damned
Damned,
Machine Gun
Etiquette, their newest release,
Grave
Disorder, and a few others from
The Black
Album and
Strawberries
infront of a full-sized theatre screen
where clips from classic horror flicks were
shown. Although lagging on some of the more
esoteric proto-Goth/Deathrock material, at
their very best, with Dave Vanian's stately
shout-crooning and Captain Sensible's manic
psych guitar solos competing against and
complementing each other, Monty OxyMoron's
pulsing keyboards, and bassist Stu West
(Patricia Morrison's replacement) and drummer
Pinch's moody-to-bombastic rhythm section,
they were outstanding.
All words ©2006 Dave Negative
Photo credits: The Adored, Alexandra; The
Epoxies, Angela R.Goodman; The Damned, Shigeo
Kikuchi
