Little Boots w/ Yes Giantess and The Plastiscines

Little Boots w/ Yes Giantess and The Plastiscines

@ The Bowery Ballroom

9/16/09

Headed over to the Bowery the other night mainly to check out Yes Giantess as I was familiar with Little Boots already and truthfully had no idea that The Plastiscines would even be playing. Here's how it went down:

I had a quick chat outside with Yes Giantess' lead vocalist and songwriter Jan Feldman before heading in. Pretty cool dude. Seemed very optimistic about getting New York's classically stoic crowd to dance. I was pretty sure he would manage it because I'd heard some of their tunes before coming out and generally liked what I'd heard.

But I wasn't dancing, I just wanted to sit. I ended up in the balcony near the VIP section. Never been up there before. Every time I come to the Bowery it's usually always front and center. But I had a great view from up there, at any rate, and was blessedly off my feet.

The Plastiscines

French girls all made up to look retro in their gold sequins, black tights and Ronnie Spector hair. They threw their bodies around stage carelessly. A bit of punk rock and soul twisted together is what I took away from it. They played well, seemingly just as vested in getting the crowd to move as Jan was.

It wasn't quite the full house it was going to be later on when Little Boots came on, but there were already a number of people there. Most of us were doing the head nod/foot tap bit, which didn't seem enough for Katty Plastiscines (lead vocalist/guitar) Because she threatened to hold up the show if we didn't give her what she wanted: full on ass shaking. She wanted us to scream for them. Well, after a few dozen tries to initiate a more than just warm enthusiasm out of us during a spirited cover of Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made For Walking", she finally gave up and ended the set. Mumbling about how French people "do better than this." Ok, well...

We liked the girls, seriously. They were pretty good. Very high-energy; great performers. They're songs are decent - "Barcelona" "Shake" "Bitch" "Lost In Translation" - and we weren't NOT entertained. But this is New York. Unless we're wildly drunk and you are bigger than life, all you're getting is some modest crowd participation. Sorry.

Yes Giantess

Besides that, punk music is more of a thrashing kind of thing. Too much for this crowd. A lot of them were a little sophisticated (read: older) I noticed. What we needed, really, was heavy fucking beats and a synthesizer overload.

Enter the boys of Yes Giantess. Not seconds out of the gate, they unleashed a maelstrom of synthpop on the fattening crowd. Yeah, we were very happy. It was just kind of blinding. First, if you're a fan of dance music, you have to understand the thrill of hearing a good beat blasting out of a sound system over your head.

Though, initially, I wasn't too keen on Jan's vocal style, I have to admit. You could tell they designed their songs around that whole college party crowd. Kids who listened to emo in their spare time when they think no one's looking. That hi octave whine was starting to creep in there. But what was produced around it was so enjoyable, my initial irritation with it ebbed away, and dude had me moving in my seat like crazy.

Three synth keys, two computers and a drum kit rocked the house off it's foundation with heavy hitters "Tuff n' Stuff" "Can't Help It" "The Word". By the end of the set, everybody was pumped for Little Boots.

Little Boots

She came from Irving Plaza playing Perez Hilton's show with Ladyhawke, Semi Precious Weapons, Frank Music and others. Dressed in blue sparkles. She was phenomenal. She got the crowd hype all over again after about a twenty minute wait while she got from point A to point B.

She dropped fan favorites "Remedy" "New In Town" "Stuck On Repeat" "Meddle" and "Love Kills" among a few others. It was a non-stop pounding adrenaline rush. Complete with flashing lights. How many times can you say the same thing? The crowd swelled to capacity, everybody danced and sang along.

I liked looking down on the sea of people rippling in her wake. I'd never seen her live. Listening to her tracks I'd felt she was just a slight notch up the Kylie Minogue ladder. Watching her on stage, I found her to be a bit less plastic. She was a warm and vivacious performer. Of course, this was not an arena, and there were no costumes or dancers. Boots has enough of an edge that she could fit easily in with a Ladyhawke and a La Roux, as opposed to say, a Britney Spears. She doesn't need an auto tuner, in other words.

She did get me out of my seat.

Alright, no pictures ( I have a good d excuse this time!) Plus ones were cut and my photog was a casualty to the massacre. But, I did spot Nicky Digital there and said hey to him. He was hold up in the balcony with me a good portion of Yes Giantess and Little Boots set. And since I watched his camera bag for him, I think I've earned the right to tell you to head over there and peruse his pics. Oh, wait, that works out for him too...