Quirky NY Chick: The Ettes Cause A Power Surge In NY

Monday, September 21, 2009

The Ettes Cause A Power Surge In NY

2:50 AM | Posted by Quirky NY Chick

The Ettes: September 19 @ The Fillmore at Irving Plaza, New York, NY

I've been a fan of The Ettes since I came across their 2006 album Shake The Dust. So, ne

edless to say, I was quite tickled when I found out they would be one of the bands supporting Juliette Lewis this past Saturday. It was the first time I'd managed to catch a show so I was excited.

The band, Coco (vocals/guitar), Poni (drums), Jem (bass) and Johnny (guitar) took the stage first. Those who didn't get their early enough to catch The Ettes set truly missed out on something special. Their set was a walloping display of garage rock. They ripped through a set that had enough punk and girl group sass to make both The Stooges and The Shangri-Las proud respectively.

Coco looks the p

art of a 60's girl group bad girl ... you know, one part sweet, one part innocent, one part fun, one part mischievous. You half expected her to leave the venue donning a leather jacket, head scarf and shades on the back of a motorcycle. She has a good voice; it's one that ably handled the multi-faceted description I just gave her. Coco is a charismatic front woman who is charming while at the same time displaying a lets get down to business demeanor.

On his first tour with the band, guitarist Johnny, along with Coco set an electric fire of crunchy

guitar work that blazed from the stage burning those of us who had the good sense to get there early enough to see them. Hey, sometimes getting burned is fun.

Drummer Poni is to be witnessed. The woman keeps a fierce beat. A tiny woman with a mass of hair, she's a powerhouse drummer. Her playing definitely encourages audience movement. The song "No Home" comes to mind in cementing that notion right off the bat. I heard more than one person after the show comment on how bad ass she is.

Bassist Jem seemed to be the most low key member of The Ettes. He laced the set with a storm of fuzzy bass licks and seemed to be the string that held it all together in a nice tight rock 'n' roll package. He and Poni without a doubt make a formidable rhythm section.

Half of their set consisted of songs from their new record Do You Want Power which I recommend. It is available at shows and digitally online now. The release date of the physical CD is September

29 for those who won't be seeing them live to pick one up. It's the tightest and most polished of their efforts yet it doesn't lose any of the kick that makes their previous efforts the delights that they are.

I can't pick a favorite song from the show because the whole set was dynamite and flowed terrifically. The Ettes are a great live band. For some reason I expected them to sound a lot more raw than they actually are. Raw isn't a bad thing by any means but, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they're such a well-honed band.

The Ettes are a band deserving of a massive following. With Do You Want Power being such a delight and a killer live show, I expect they'll have that and much more soon.

Set List