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BABES IN TOYLAND @Mean Fiddler, Charing X Rd,
13/02/01 Reviewed By Tahni Lamonde-Lyle
Goth's, Crusties, Skate kids, old Grungers, the obligatory kinder-whore
and the miscellaneous all crawled out of the woodwork to wave off the
mighty Babes in Toyland on their farewell gig. The air was buzzing with
wide-eyed anticipation. What will they sound like? What will they look
like? Will they still be able to cut it?
Well cut it they did, like a guillotine right through our skulls.. All
the doubts slumped back off to where they came from as the chunky chords
of Swamp Pussy exploded onto the stage.
The original riot grrl, Kat Bjelland much to the dismay of some
emulators behind me, had rid herself of the baby white hair and the baby
white dresses. She was now brown-haired and sedately dressed. Probably
more fitting for a new mother who has moved on and decided not to be
purely defined by her look which in the end became oh so contrived. But
one thing that definitely had not changed was Kat's powerhouse of a
voice, she hops from girlie innocence to raging bull in a nanosecond.
She could make the hairs on the back of your neck sway to the melody of
her She-Devil wailing. She's the only person in Rock that can make a
screech, a blood-curdling scream and a grunt sound like a beautifully
distorted nursery rhyme. The original line-up had changed even though
it was rumored that the original bassist Michelle Leon was to join
them. But she did not manifest and her substitute fitted in perfectly
and looked like she was proud to the honours.
When it came to favourites, "Handsome and Gretal" and "He's my thing",
the place lifted itself up by the scruff of the neck and jumped
frenetically in the air. We were all transported back with a fondness,
reminiscent of the early 90's when the Legends' were at their finest.
Babes in Toyland were definitely of their time, but now it's time to
call it a day and evolve to the next creative plane. Some good things
must come to an end.
Kat has another project with her husband called Katastrophy Wife
(apparently a play on words) which should be hitting the shops in March
and drummer Lori Barbero is working on various other projects.
The incendiary Babes In Toyland have now been put to rest. But I will
be eagerly awaiting the next installment of Kat's "sweetest devil in a
dress" venture. .
Tahni
SHIVAREE @ Dingwall in Camden - 11/12/00 - reviewed
by Tahni Lamonde-Lyle
She slunk on to the stage, all furrowed brow, hair bobbing in a high
ponytail and hands cemented in pockets. She looked like she shouldn't
be there. She looked like she should always be there. Her eyes
remained fixed to the floor. Unassuming yet distinctively powerful.
And then it happened. The force danced from her mouth like a prowling
tiger who had decided to be kind to mankind for the day. The voice
swept all around us taking everyone in the room captive. I was
mesmerized. The sound penetrated every open pore on my body.. That
voice, oh yes that voice it would do Ambrosia Parsley no justice at all
to simply say her voice was beautiful. For it is beyond beauty. It was
beyond anything I had ever experienced before.
The mixture of innocence and wisdom made you realise there was far more
to this fragile creature who could hardly look the audience in the eye,
than she was willing to let on. Her voice sounded like she was born to
sing lullabies whilst being dragged bareback through the Arizona desert.
The songs themselves were breathtaking. All taken from her stunning
debut album called "I oughta give you a shot in the head for making me
live in this dump". I title like that in itself deserves an award so a
moment of our ear time is not too much to ask for. A mixture of the
offbeat, the heartwrenching and the downright provocative to bring it
all down to a smouth rounded country tone.
Her uncomfortable demeanour did not all detract from the experience. It
probably only endeared people to her even more. I guess not everyone is
born to flirt with the audience. Some people are clearly more
comfortable to keep a little back. And in this case to just allow for
the purest expression to shine through. To allow the magic that was
that voice of velvet popsicles riding abreast the chief angel in
hiding. And Shivaree did shine. Ambrosia sang her heart out and
everyone else's whilst she was at it. Maybe not a star in the
conventional sense. But in everyway imaginable in the unconventional
sense. A burgeoning talent that will continue to mesmerize and entrhall
every person who has the good fortune to open their ears to her.
Shivaree draws people in and then snaps them back like a boomerang.
Always returning to source. I still shiver now when I think of the
first moment her voice glided to meet my expectations and wrestled them
to the ground.
Cay @ Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms, 20th March
Cay
strut on stage. There is already an air of anger and excitement. Anet, the 'kill rock
stars' kind of front woman in a Euro Disney t-shirt and black retro style skirt looks
pissed off. They play though their 'Nature Creates Freaks' album and the crowd sings along
to what are obviously underground anthems. The band seems fairly tired from their busy
tour schedule, but they are definitely putting maximum effort into the show.
Along with old favourites such as 'Neurons like Brandy,' the band preview new material.
'Don't let the Girl Go' and 'Sex by Numbers' are two of these new-skool Cay songs and some
of the other new stuff is so new that titles still haven't be decided. All the new
material sounds very exciting and has the same ideas that 'Nature...' involved, but
definitely with a slightly more mature edge. The set is short but to the point. Cay are
different, but still as angry as ever.
Setlist
Princes and Princesses
Better than Myself
Nature Creates Freaks
Radio Song
Don't let the Girl Go
Prototype
Neurons like Brandy Poppy Head
Reasonable Ease in Chilled out Conditions
Sex by Numbers
Seven
See the Grrls in Rock interview with Anet Mook for more
details about the band Visit http://www.cayweb.co.uk PURRRRRFECT REBELS
PURRRRRFECT REBELS
Kittie (supporting Slipknot) @ Portsmouth Guildhall, 3rd March
On the night the Spice Girls won a Brit award for 'Outstanding Contribution To British
Music', Slipknot and their fans were trashing Portsmouth Guildhall and the support act
were far more feisty and riotous than the Spice Girls could ever dream of being. Rather
than Girl Power, Kittie, an all girl foursome from Canada have a GRRL Power sound and
image. The nu-metal scene has developed a lot over the last few years, but up until now,
there hasn't really been a girl band that could be classified as metal. Kittie are metal
girl style and what makes them so great is they are new, most definitely different and
probably the start of something very new and cool as far as women in rock go.
The line-up is Morgan Lander (18) on lead guitar and vocals, her little sister Mercedes
(17) on drums, Fallon Bowman (17) on guitar and vocals and Talena Atfield (17) on bass. To
be on tour with Slipknot you already assume they are something special- and they are.
Their set is mainly songs from their debut album 'Spit,' which was released in the UK on
Monday. Although most of the songs are fairly heavy and believe me, Kittie pull of the
metal shouty voice thing just as good as Korn or Slipknot, there are lighter songs too,
which show off Morgan's pretty girlie voice. They play for half an hour, the highlight is
definitely 'Brackish,' which pretty much describes the band's style.
Despite Kittie being relatively new on the scene, everyone seem pretty impressed by
their performance and as a support act, they do a great job of 'warming up' the audience.
The grrrls talk to the crowd like they are their friends and it seems quite ironic that a
huge percentage are older them. All in all, Kittie put on a fantastic show and i'm sure
have sold a few albu ms more as a result of their performance.
If you can, check them out on Wednesday 8th March at The Garage, where they have got
their own gig.
'Spit' is out now
Go to http://www.kittie.net for more information
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