savages

so the third band in my crazy weekend extravaganza was savages sunday night at union transfer.

you guys know i'm not really into a lot of newer bands right? when i'm at work, my boss will put on new releases so he knows what they sound like, and a lot of the time i find myself going "what the fuck is this shit? ugh, turn it off!" then one night he put on something new, but it didn't sound new. it reminded me of all the post punk bands i'm into. it was angry, but without being thrashy. basically it was perfect. so i asked him who we were listening to, and he told me they're called savages, and i was hooked.

my friend had bought a ticket for this show a while ago, and she was meeting up with another friend in the city before the show, but she kept encouraging me to go. i wanted to, obviously. but i knew i was already going to see the dictators and wire that weekend and wasn't sure if a) i'd be up for it and b) have enough money. but tickets were only $15 and she started bugging me early in the day about going so i decided to do it.

the opener was johnny hostile, but we missed that set because we got food and drinks elsewhere before the show, and we got there during his set but didn't actually see any of it. he sounded awesome; i don't always like comparing new bands to old bands, but to give you an idea, it kind of reminded me a lot of suicide and a little bit of joy division. so i was a little disappointed we missed his set, but oh well.

so we finagled our way up front and waited for them to come out. did i mention that savages are a bunch of ladies? i hate when people are surprised that a band comprised of females is good; i hate when people say "yeah, they're good, for a bunch of girls." i hate it. we're all supposed to be equal aren't we? stop with that shit already. if you're a good musician, you're a good musician. male or female has nothing to do with it. however, it was delightful for me, as a female, to watch four ladies killing it on stage. it's inspiring, you know? i guess i hang around a lot of old punk dudes, so it was really refreshing.

ok. so the show. holy shit. i knew it was going to be good, but i didn't know HOW good. it started out really strong and didn't let up until they left the stage. and the singer, jehnny beth, has this really awesome stage presence. she's super intense. and she'll just stare at you. THROUGH you. and her voice is so cool. people compare her to siouxsie, which i get, but she doesn't wear crazy costumes and makeup. just black clothes and pink high heels. super short hair. minimal makeup. they all wore black and just looked cool. i didn't know who to watch. they were all so focused and into what they were doing and i didn't want it to end. it was just like...really fucking cool. my friend and i would look at each other after a song ended and just go "holy shit!" all the hype about them is completely deserved and when they come back here you better go see them.