Fear of Dolls

I'll tell you the truth - I went to this concert just to see Fear of Dolls - a unique and captivating band whose CD I reviewed last year and I was curious to see how they pull off their live show. I was in for quite a surprise, not only did Fear of Dolls FLOOR me with their performance, but Written in Ashes - with a new lineup, made me stop and take notice.

Fear of Dolls -- how to describe them? Much like the background wall paper on their website, you don't quite notice the sharp, violent things at first. The danger isn't overtly obvious...that is, unless you're the preppy sweat-shirt-wearing half-drunk fella at the bar who's suddenly stopped midway through a brutish come-on attempt at the bar maid when he hears Bonni Suval SCREAM out of no where. 

And SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAM.

Like someone is violently murdering her on stage. I wish you could have seen the look on the drunkard's face. It was priceless. 

More akin to performance art than just some gothic band on stage, Fear of Dolls makes seeing a live show a whole new experience.  First you have to understand what they're attempting to do. On their website it says: 

"Bent on creating confrontational psychological experiences, Fear Of Dolls draw upon a schizophrenic mix of musical suspense, psychotic nervousness and tension, angelic beauty, emotional frailty, and violent cacophony. The approach is naïve and childlike (minimal, exaggerated and irrational), often resulting in what sounds like  parodies of songs; like a child using it's toys to write music about a murder it has just witnessed."

And if that was not  enough, Bonni puts on a show that is akin to some of the best theater/stage performances I've ever seen. She's childlike and laughing and giggling at one point, hair up in cute pig tails, and suddenly something goes terribly wrong, and she's hyperventilating and screaming and completely loosing her mind - trying hard to convey some gruesome incident that's haunting her memories. Its frightening to witness. I felt alarmed and tense. And those screams - I'd really hate to ask what she draws on to make those come out so real sounding - they seemed ripped from some deeply wounded soul and she genuinely looks completely terrified in the process. In the silence that follows, she's left gasping for breath. 

At other points her voice is low and sultry, vaguely like Mazy Starr yet gruffer. She is intoxicating to watch - not knowing what face or voice she'll morph into next. I'm left wondering how crowds in other cities would take their performances. I saw them a second time last night at the Vogue for a benefit concert and they were just as shocking and as exhilarating a second time around. 

Abney Park

I must preface what I'm about to say with a note: normally we try NOT to waste our time talking about negative things on StarVox. Its not productive in the least. We don't slam people in reviews, but instead, if we can, we offer up constructive criticism or don't talk about it at all. I was going to skip talking about Abney Park in this concert review, until several people related similar opinions to me on the matter so I hope what I write here will be taken as  good-hearted advice. About two songs into their set, Abney Park  did a cover song. Not only was it too early on in their set to play a cover, it was Sisters of Mercy. Not only was it Sisters of Mercy, it was "This Corrosion." I winced and shuddered at the bar. That's almost as bad as gothic bands playing "Bela Lugosi's Dead". You just don't do it. And if you must, do it at the end or in an encore. And if you must, at least put your own spin on it. 

They also covered Radio Head's "Creep" (which I believe can be heard on their mp3 station). At that point I really stopped paying attention but others have said there were more cover songs that night in their set. From my humble stand point, that's just a bad idea. You don't want to become known as the gothic cover band. Sure, a cover is fun at times, especially when a band takes it and molds it into something new (3SKS's version of "Time After Time" is so different you hardly recognize it as a cover but that "it seems familiar" notion won't leave you alone until you figure it out). However, the covers Abney Park did seemed to hold dully to the original form. Don't get me wrong, they did them well, but that's not very interesting.  When I'm out listening to a band, going to the effort and time to see them in concert - I want to know what THEY can do, not hear how closely they can play old stand bys. And perhaps Abney Park has some very good original songs -- but that was all lost because of the cover songs. Perhaps next time I get to see them live, I can hear Abney Park - not Abney Park doing The Sisters. 

Written in Ashes

And finally Written in Ashes took the stage. I had seen them at the Pre-Convergence concert in Portland last year, and while they were good, they weren't outstanding or memorable that night. Perhaps it was just an off night for them, or perhaps their old line up was just not gelling. Whatever the case, I felt bad at times because Jett kept harping on how good they were and I just couldn't share his enthusiasm. May I humbly take all that back now? Written in Ashes has a new line up, and contrary to my original opinion, they kick ass. Kevyn Hay, vocalist for Written in Ashes, and  drummer, Mr Battrick, and Pete Guzzarid who joined somewhere around May but after the CD was cut, were all that remained the same. I do believe this concert at The Catwalk was the first time the new line up played publicly together. At any rate, whatever prompted the change, the new lineup is divine musically and aesthetically. 

Pete Guzzarid, on guitar, is one of the founding members of Monochrome (not to be confused the Monochrome in Atlanta). He brings a more rock n roll sound on guitar to the band by way of the likes of Dave Navarro. Ashe Ruppe, formally of the popular Trance to the Sun and Nocturne PDX, has been added as a bass player. Ashe's rumbling bass lines and inclination towards trip-hop rhythms greatly intensifies and textures the songs with new depths. Jöga, formerly of Son of Rust, brings the quirky talents of greats like Klaus Naomi to the table with his creative keyboard/synth playing. And holding it all together is the precise drumming of Mr Battrick and the soaring vocals of Kevyn. Similar at times to Bauhaus's Peter Murphy, Kevyn takes control of the stage and is an expert at communicating the themes of the song to the crowd. His vocals are impassioned, sometimes whispered, operatic and sultry.  His interaction with the crowd is also appreciated and was well noted. His attempt to include them, singing TO them, dancing amongst those on the floor during instrumental parts and then shaking their hands to thank them for coming afterwards, is something that endears me to other bands like the Cruxshadows. Their performance was full of raw energy that night. 

I gladly stand corrected in my original observation of this band. They are hardly dull. And if their performance at the upcoming GothCon in New Orleans is anything like the show I saw that night at the Catwalk, I think they'll have the crowd eating out of their hands. Congrats to Kevyn who seems to have assembled an all-star lineup. Now hurry up and get a new CD out. You have an impatient new fan waiting.

Written in Ashes is:
Kevyn Hay (vocals)
Mr. Battrick (drums) 
Pete Guzzardi (guitar) 
Ashe Ruppe (bass)
Jöga (keys)

http://www.fearofdolls.com/gorey.html
http://www.fearofdolls.com/
http://www.writteninashes.com/
http://www.abneypark.com/

2/14/01