Where the Grrls Are

January 22, 2004

A lot of times I feel like I cover the Pacific Northwest far more than anything bands from L.A., but I don’t mind so much since the stuff from up top is so much more interesting than anything going on down here. The Decemberists hailed from Portland and were on Olympia, Washington’s KillRockStars. The very next night at the Troubadour I saw the Gossip, hailing from Portland, supporting their second album, Movement, available from KillRockStars.

The Gossip are about as raw and basic as it gets, with Kathy Mendoncaa drumming mostly with her snare and kick and virtually no cymbals or hi-hat and Brace Paine playing a guitar with only four strings (who needs that high B and E?) They keep it simple, keep it moving and keep it grooving, setting the stage for the dominating presence of their lead singer, Beth Ditto.

Once Beth Ditto she takes the stage, you’re not paying attention to anything else. Ditto delivers fierce punk with a soul/blues/gospel twist to spine-tingling effect. Dancing, shimmying and shaking, she’s in constant motion, pushing at such a maddening pace that she’s worked fanning herself into her repertoire of dance moves. When the Gossip tore into “Fire/Sign,” the crowd was absolutely churning, begging for revolution and deliverance with every note. With the chorus of “Jason’s Basement,” the Troubadour wasn’t far from the sweaty house parties that the Gossip started at. Singing “no inhibitions / come and dance with meeeeeee” repeatedly, it wasn’t long before fans started taking Ditto up on her offers, climbing right on stage for an overheated dance party that threatened to blow the doors right off the place.

With songs that barely clock two minutes, the eleven song setlist disappeared in a hurry. Even with the worked up audience, the Gossip only came back for a one song encore of “Ain’t It The Truth,” with Ditto jumping into the crowd and singing most of it from the floor. The extremely short nature of the show left me with mixed feelings about it all. It was a spectacular half-hour, and I appreciate a band going full-tilt for an entire set, but it left me wanting for another four or five songs, at least. It seemed short for a headliner but there probably aren’t too many people eager to book the Gossip as an opener. Who’d want to try and follow that?

Notes: At no point in the show did Beth Ditto strip down to her skivvies, as she has been known to do. I also spotted Jay Clark from Pretty Girls Make Graves in attendance. Both bands are members of the Dim Mak family.

Posted in From Blown Speakers