2002-08-08 - 3:11

It's the only one you'll go and do

Tonight made it four summers in a row that I've seen Nashville Pussy. Once again, they put on a very enjoyable show. The crowd had a decent energy level. Surprisingly, quite a few people got into it for the middle band on the bill, Bionic--enough to get a decent mosh started. And I don't mean that it was surprising in that Bionic was poor (they were actually quite rocking); but due to the fact that Ottawa crowds tend to be fairly weak.

For Nashville Pussy, it took longer to bring things to a boil; but quite a few people got into it and the night ended strongly. I've never been to a club show that had more cute girls in the mosh. Wow. In fact, I'd actually say that more than half the people in the mix were female. At a Nashville Pussy concert, no less! I would never have predicted that.

I thought that the highlight of the group was going to be a cute, vaguely punkish black girl who had been hopping and bopping quite well for Bionic. (Truth be told, she launched me quite a few times, with more force than the big skinhead guy ever did.) In the end, though, she kind of drifted to the side and trailed off.

Instead, a very sweet looking blonde turned out to be the star (which is saying something, since there were many worthy candidates). I'm sure that she was at least half drunk, since (a) she fell down or came close to falling several times, and (b) she was kinda mosh-flirting with me. I ended up losing track of her about three songs from the end, though, and I didn't see her during my exit. Alas.

Another lost chance; and after I thought that I had gained faction by bailing her out from a couple of near-falls and by playing bodyguard, introducing seperation between her and the one guy in the mosh I disliked. Mayhap another concert will prove my salvation.

(Actually, that appears to be where I'm inadvertently pinning my hopes, since I seemingly only leave the house to go to concerts and to go to work. And I work with three guys. And they're all married, so I can't even go gay and pull out a victory.)

Err, umm, yeah, the concert. As I said, Bionic was quite good. The openers, local unit The Marxist Millionaires were unpolished, but not without their charm. I think that they did well.

Nashville Pussy was as good as they were the previous three times that I saw them. They always come out fierce and deliver a long, almost pauseless, set. Ruyter Suys is always the highlight for me. For the first time since the '99 show, she did the sucking-off-a-beer-bottle-while-playing-a-guitar-solo bit. 'Tis always a winner. Once again, I was close enough to the stage to have the beer spat upon me, which is also a bonus. Actually, I took some more beer spit at the end of the show, as well as being sprayed by Blaine's bottle earlier.

I wouldn't say that Nashville Pussy showed many new tricks, which is largely true of their albums, too. Like the recordings, though, they have the live show done to a well-executed science and it's always fun to be along for the ride.

Oh, notable among the few differences this time around was the fact that Ruyter, in addition to her traditional mid-show undressing to a bra, also dropped her leather bell bottoms at the end of the night. So, um, yeah . . . much female goodness in display all around tonight.

So I'm now three concert reviews behind in my writing; but I snagged a set list tonight, which should help me write this one. Maybe I'll get something written before I go away this weekend.

Okay, since it's past 3:00 AM, me and my poor, ruined ears are going to bed. After three concerts in six nights, I can start resting up for Tool (two weeks from Saturday).

J.