Can I take a nap instead of writing this review? Believe it or not, that’s a complement to last night’s show by The Gossip. I’m exhausted and that’s often the most tell-tale way for me to know I had fun at a show.
We arrived at the venue just as the first opener, We Are The World were breaking down their set, so unfortunately all I have to report is what an audience member commented to us: “They were weirdly good.” Looked them up on Myspace and found out what that meant.
Next up, another band we hadn’t heard of, MEN, but about 30 seconds after they came on stage I uttered “Oh! It’s J.D. from LeTigre!” J.D. Samson, that is. And what we got was basically what you would expect; some good electronic gender-and-sexual-politics dance goodness. Probably the catchiest song of the night was “Credit Card Babie$” which also happened to win my personal award for new inappropriate song lyrics to be stuck in my head: “I’m gonna fuck my friends, I’m gonna fuck my friends” complete with visual accompaniment:
After a long, hot wait… (so hot I did something if you know me you would never think you would see happen: I took off my pants in the middle of a crowd. Ok fine, they were leggings and I was wearing a dress, but still.) The Gossip finally came on stage around 10:15. Beth Ditto came out with a cup of tea, and all the waiting is forgiven as despite her self proclaimed sore voice, she still tried as hard as she can to belt out her signature notes. She did rely a bit on the crowd to hit some of the higher notes for her, but we were only too happy to oblige.
Speaking of the crowd, boy was this one stylish show! I wanted to walk around taking pictures of the crowd, but this isn’t a fashion blog, so back to the music.
Beth knows her crowd and she knows how to play to them, but in a completely sincere manner. Screaming out, “Are there any gays in the audience?” and feigning not to see all the hands and “woo’s!” responding she says “I don’t see any.” Gay fans: check! Before playing “8th Wonder”, a song off their new album Music For Men, Beth dedicates the song to Tobi Vail of Bikini Kill. Feminist fans: check! During the aforementioned song, the band goes into an interlude of “Rebel Girl” by Bikini Kill and I’m sure the crowd wouldn’t have been singing along as enthusiastically if it hadn’t been for the song’s inclusion in the game Rock Band 2.
Beth Ditto commands attention on stage, which always makes for a good show. The Gossip’s new material fit in perfectly with the old, and the crowd seemed excited for whatever the band threw at us, including a cover of the Tina Turner classic “What’s Love Got to do With It” featuring J.D. Samson. All I can say is that it was a great show and I’m off to take that nap now. Goodnight!
And special thanks to fellow writer Marie Carney for taking time out of her dancing to keep track of the set list.
The Gossip set list:
Dimestore Diamond
Pop Goes the World
2012
Don’t (Make Waves)
Your Mangled Heart
Men In Love
Fire/Sign
Love Long Distance
8th Wonder (with Rebel Girl interlude)
Listen Up! (opening Beth sang some of Psycho Killer then Lady Marmalade)
Four Letter Word
Yesterday’s News
Heavy Cross
—Encore—
What’s Love Got to Do With It? (Featuring J.D. Samson)
Standing in the Way of Control
Sing Along:
We are the Champions
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