By Andrew Bansal
June 7th 2014, The Whisky-A-Go-Go, West Hollywood CA: Following the release of their latest album ‘Up The Dosage’, a righteous slab of foot-stomping rock ‘n roll that has brought them back into top gear after a five-year gap, Atlanta, Georgia-based four-piece group Nashville Pussy embarked on a US headline run two weeks ago and made their way to Los Angeles to bring their brand of dirty sleaze rock to West Hollywood’s Whisky-A-Go-Go, with touring support acts The Yawpers and CATL, along with a local openers Madamn Hollywood and Moxy & The Influence.
I arrived at the venue at around 7:40, a few minutes before the doors opened for what was an unusually late show start here at the Whisky, with the first band going on at 8:10. The two local openers were done playing by 9:30, making it an extremely long and tedious wait time for us folks here to see Nashville Pussy. I say this with no disrespect whatsoever, but there was absolutely nothing interesting or redeeming about either of these two bands who both filled their sets with badly sung generic rock covers, and it was no surprise that they not only didn’t bring any of their own ‘fans’ to this show but also drove out anyone and everyone who dared to enter the venue to check them out. Aside from paying the required amount of money to get on the bill, local ‘pay-to-play’ openers are actually supposed to bring people to the show and sell tickets, but neither of these bands did that and it was highly detrimental to the turnout at this show. This is where the venue needs to take a look and listen to the bands they’re booking as openers, even if they’re paying to play.
On top of that, the touring support bands didn’t deliver anything overly special either, although Canadian two-piece stripped-down rock act CATL were decent in parts and there’s nothing wrong about getting to see a chick singing and playing drums at the same time. But it turned out to be a largely excruciating and depressing three-and-a-half hour period between the opening of the doors and the start of Nashville Pussy’s set, so much so that I can count only three interesting moments during the entirety of this time: Firstly, washing my hands in the bathroom only to lift my head up and see in the mirror the reflection of a dude trying to take a picture of the back of my denim vest while taking a piss at the same time, secondly, getting a full side-boob view of a female in a ridiculously revealing dress, and thirdly, giving health tips to one of the security dudes. When the live music isn’t nearly entertaining enough, you have to clutch at straws and appreciate the smaller things.
Anyway, after much deliberation by the stage hands in setting up the band’s gear, Nashville Pussy finally took the stage at 11:35 and played a truly rocking 70-minute set that very much made me feel like being rewarded for the new ultra-high levels of patience I attained through the course of this joyless evening. They played 17 songs of unadulterated rock ‘n roll one after the other in a high-octane performance, including three tunes off of the latest album ‘Up The Dosage’. Vocalist/rhythm guitarist Blaine Cartwright announced it as the ‘best album the band has ever made’, and he was not at all incorrect in saying that, as when experienced with the best selections from the rest of the band’s catalog in this live set, it was clear to me that the new material holds up as good as anything the band released in the past, specially the song ‘Rub It To Death’ which for me was the standout highlight of this set, and might just be most repeat-worthy song Nashville Pussy have written till date. A cover of Kokomo Arnold’s ‘Milk Cow Blues’ came in the latter half of the set and was also a memorable moment as it included introductions to the four members of the band along with each of them getting to play a solo.
While they carry a light-hearted, fun-filled exterior appearance and outlook with their sleazy lyrical themes and hilarious song titles, Nashville Pussy boast of undeniably talented musicians who know they way around their respective instruments. ‘Best female rock guitarist ever!’ yelled a musician friend of mine about his opinion on lead guitarist Ruyter Suys, and I can think of absolutely no reason to argue or disagree with him, as Suys nailed all the riffs and solos on that Gibson SG even as she flailed about all over the stage in an insanely energetic display of musicianship. Cartwright was expectedly great on vocals and guitar as well, while bassist Bonnie Buitrago and drummer Jeremy Thompson showed they belong in the same class too.
Through this performance, Nashville Pussy embodied everything that’s great about pure rock ‘n roll, and while I wholeheartedly enjoyed their show and was glad I attended it, I was left wondering where Los Angeles’ so-called rock lovers were, and why they weren’t at this show on a perfectly fine Saturday night. So I exited the Whisky with contrastingly mixed emotions, elated by Nashville Pussy’s awesomeness but at the same time extremely disappointed by the poor turnout and having lost some of the meagre faith I have in humanity.
Nashville Pussy links:
NashvillePussy.com
facebook.com/pages/Nashville-Pussy/13091707669
twitter.com/BashfulPuppy
Set List:
01. Keep on Fuckin’
02. High As Hell
03. Struttin’ Cock
04. Wrong Side Of A Gun
05. Rub It To Death
06. She’s Got The Drugs
07. I’m So High
08. Everybody’s Fault But Mine
09. Gonna Hitchhike Down To Cincinnati And Kick The Shit Outta Your Drunk Daddy
10. Up The Dosage
11. Go to Hell
12. Milk Cow Blues (Kokomo Arnold cover)
13. Snake Eyes
14. I’m The Man
15. Why Why Why
16. Go Motherfucker Go
17. You’re Goin’ Down
Remaining Tour Dates:
6/08: San Francisco, CA @ Thee Parkside
6/11: Portland, OR @ Dante’s
6/12: Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern
6/13: Ketchum, ID @ Whiskey Jacques
6/14: Salt Lake City, UT @ Burt’s Tiki Lounge
6/15: Denver, CO @ Marquis Theater
6/18: Wichita, KS @ Lizard Lounge
6/19: Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads
6/20: St. Louis, MO @ Old Rock House
6/21: Chicago, IL @ Martyrs
The Whisky-A-Go-Go links:
WhiskyAGoGo.com
facebook.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
twitter.com/theWhiskyAGoGo
instagram.com/theWhiskyAGoGo