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March 14, 2006

The Gossip – Live @ Larimer Lounge, Denver, CO March 13, 2006

Throw me in the fire and I won’t throw a fit

Last night I saw The Gossip perform an all ages 11pm show at Larimer lounge in Denver. For a band on their way to SXSW this show could have downshifted into an advanced respite before expunging energy in Austin. It was Monday night and they easily could have mailed it in. No A&Rs or NYC bloggerati to impress or worry about, just young kids crowding the (alcohol free) stage area of Larimer Lounge. Why not take it easy and save it for the festival?

Beth Ditto, the name attached to perhaps the most dynamically powerful female voice in rock, punk rock, R&B, etc. wouldn’t allow it. Following a restricted show described as difficult she was Grateful for the enthusiasm of the kids in the crowd.

To ignore the disproportionate number of young girls emboldened by the two-to-one grrl power to guy power rocking onstage would mean compromising the journalistic integrity that is not expected from a little blog like this, but nonetheless is my duty to report. It’s unambiguously embedded into the fabric of the Gossip’s connection with the audience. Ditto literally announcing the queer selections from the Gossip repertoire like “Coal to Diamonds” introduced as a “gay love jam.”

The playing for the other team gag continued when introducing blistering breakout “Standing in the Way of Control.” With a disguised snickering she joked how the song works equally at both frat parties and those of the gayer ilk. Drawing laughs when mentioning college fellas shaking their asses Groove Armada style only to awkwardly deny it all the next morning

Contrasting the spare (yet proper) instrumentation of “Coal to Diamonds,” the funky disco breaks elicited a fantastic frenzy among the crowd. The scorching cut was an intense four on the floor march suspending the facts that only two of the three people onstage had instruments. Such was the fire coming from the stage that a sweaty and clearly wiped Ditto “need[ed] to chill out” after completing it.

I did not recognize several songs that followed including one introduced “about survival and helping your friends out.” My notes say “Gospel/Punk.” Not a defined genre last I checked but apropos of the fusing of blues meets punk meets Mamma Cass.

The fun to play and unmistakable “Scentless Apprentice” beat was teased by Gossip drummer Hannah during a break and Beth Ditto mockingly sang with a heavy death metal growl. I wouldn’t have paired a snarling Nirvana track for the Gossip to cover, but her huge pipes could have produced an interesting version. The modern Cass imitating Cobain’s best Pantera, why not?

The Gossip’s encore began with the band returning to the stage bantering about tissues and snot. After most of the group blew their noses they tore into MS Pick and 2006 frontrunner candidate for an insane remix, “Listen Up!” (MP3) Kick drum volume maxed out and Ditto’s old time ohhs and countdowns rallied the congregation.

On the subject of bodily fluid tangents, a small cut on my finger opened up during the show and bloodied the pages of my notepad. Bloody show notes is the new punk rock.

Gospel punk is the Gossip.

Previously: MS Pick - The Gossip - Listen Up! - Lady 'House of Jealous Lovers', MS Daily Picks - Am I denigrating this by evoking Lady Rapture?

Tour dates after the jump.

//The Gossip - site
//The Gossip - myspace
//The Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control - buy

Posted by Merry Swankster at March 14, 2006 01:44 PM

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