2 posts tagged “new york dolls”
I have always like Twisted Sister, and I'm not afraid to admit it. Go ahead, take away my metal credentials, but you cannot deny that the bands pre-"We're Not Gonna Take It" material was pretty heavy. Kind of New York Dolls meets early Motörhead. I remember shopping at The Record Exchange in Walnut Creek back in '83 or so when the dude behind the counter threw the "Under The Blade" 7" on to the turntable. I was pretty blown away. A few months later I was seeing them live, smashed up against the barricade at San Jose Civic Center. I also saw them open for Iron Maiden at the Cow Palace in '85, but due to some pre-show parking lot drinking I passed out in my seat, and came to just as they were leaving the stage.
Unfortunately the band sold out big time, and to this day I still cannot listen to "We're Not Gonna Take It", or "I Want To Rock", for that matter. But I will always be a huge fan of their first two records.....
Last week I had a change to check out the New York Dolls, and they were pretty damn good. In my review for Ground Control Magazine, I mention that David Johansen seemed to have a fake "bulge". Shortly after my review was posted, someone from the New York Dolls camp emailed Ground Control regarding my comments. What they had to say is below. Now only if I could get Don Dokken to respond to my comments about his fake hair.
/Hey Ground Control,
Hey, tell Raymond Ahner that David's tightly packed bulge is real just
like the music!
Yep Sur'nuf
L-U-V
New York Dolls/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walking into a half-filled Fillmore, I was a bit unsure of what to
expect to say the least. I have always been a huge fan of the New York
Dolls, but when a band is touring 35 years after their heyday, and only
2 of the 5 founding members are still alive, wouldn't you be a bit
dubious? Although I had heard nothing but good things about the current
incarnation of the band, as well as this tour, I just couldn't convince
myself that the Dolls could still entertain, or more importantly, still
sound good. Luckily I have been wrong on more than a few occasions,
tonight being one of them.
As they strolled out onto the stage with a grin from ear to ear, and then immediately launching into "Babylon," the New York Dolls showed the now packed Fillmore that they still have a bit of life left in them. By the time they finished "Puss 'n Boots,” which was only the second song of their set, founders David Johansen and Syl Sylvain, along with bassist Sam Yaffa (who has played with Hanoi Rocks, S.F. glam band Jetboy, and Johnny Thunders himself), guitarist Steve Conte and drummer Brian Delaney had already exerted more energy than bands half their age do in an entire night. After a rocking version of "We're All In Luv," they finally slowed down for a cover of Janis Joplin's "Piece Of My Heart," which might have been one of the only "clunker" of the night as far as I'm concerned (not including the opening band’s entire set).
Perhaps the best moment of the show for me came when Sylvain paid tribute to one-time Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders with a pretty touching acoustic version of Thunders "You Can't Put Your Arm Around A Memory." Very nice, and from where I was standing it looked as though he was about to shed a tear or two.
Although newer Dolls songs such as "Rainbow Store," "Punishing World" and "Dance Like a Monkey" didn't quite rock the house like "Trash," "Looking For A Kiss" and "Private World," they still sounded good live, and it almost felt like they put just a bit more energy into them. I really dug "Fishnets and Cigarettes," and tonight it sounded like it fit right in with the old classics.
After closing the set with a pretty rocking "Jetboy," with Johansen throwing out flowers to the crowd, and some pretty nice guitar work by both Slyvain and Conte, the Dolls returned to the stage for "Personality Crisis" which—although it came as a surprise to no one—had the crowd finally moving around a bit. Johansen was moving around a bit himself, and shimmied and shaked so much that I though he was going to loose his fake bulge. There was no way his extra tight pants were going to be falling off however. "Gotta Get Away From Tommy" closed the show.
All in all, I'd have to say I was pretty impressed by the New York Dolls. They looked good and they sounded good, and although they really don't offer anything new these days, they still know how to entertain, and sometimes that's all I need.
