I saw one of the best show’s I’ve caught in ages last Friday night: the Loser’s Lounge tribute to Devo. Brilliant, on all levels. Not only did it really capture the flavor and the impact of the material performed, but did so in a way that was totally fresh and original, rather than just a sycophantic rehashing of someone else’s work. I bought their bootleg CDs of their Bowie and Elvis Costello shows, and am more convinced than ever that the Devo show wasn’t a fluke: these guys (and it’s a core band with dozens of guest singers, so it’s not like a regular band) are not only supremely talented, but they’re more interested in really immersing themselves into the music they play to get to the heart of it, rather than just trot out some old pop hits as a gimmick. (Which is what I was expecting them to do when I bought the tickets. I love being wrong when the end result is so much better.)
The show was typical of what I love about entertainment in New York (I say “in New York” because it’s something I’ve never been able to come across anywhere else): rather than being just a rock show, or just a theatrical performance, or just one thing or another, the event itself crossed all these boundaries. They played heartfelt covers of New Wave songs, but also incorporated country, punk, and experimental electronic music. They played homemade synthesizers and traditional instruments. They featured a variety of singers and performers. They wore costumes. They immersed themselves in a kind of simulacrum of the music to which they paid tribute. MInd you this was all just for a $15 concert ticket, not an exorbitant theater seat.
And I seem to find genre-bending stuff like this all the time here: Kiki & Herb, The Three Terrors, the Qwe’re Music Fest, and on and on and on. I’ve gotten too hooked on these blends of pop, rock, drag, performance art, burlesque, and cabaret to get much out of a band just playing its songs, or some drag queen just miming along to a record, or someone just standing up on stage doing some schtick. There are simply too many alternatives out there that are more ambitious and more affecting.
You know, I’ve always fought to resist the draw of NYC, thinking that in the end, it would be too much for my fragile Midwesten soul. This entry right here puts me closer to moving than anything ever has. I haven’t seen a decent show in Boston in months, and there’s almost never anything this good going on down here.
Well, Dave, I think we all know my opinion on the subject of your moving to New York where we can hang out all the time again like we ought to.
I too went to the show, I average about 1 Loser’s Lounge per year, though they mount about a dozen per. It is an unbelievable tribute, in the sense of what a tribute should be, i.e. NOT A COVER. This is a great value and a labor of love. Please go to these!