Lady Panic

"Lady Panic was on first and displayed a rare professional approach despite them still being teen-agers. The lead singer is a great front person and hits the notes on the spot. Energy, energy, energy." -Sue Porter, Emergenza Music Festival

FULL ARTICLE:
The last week-end in January ended with a bang when bands and fans from all 5 boroughs fought the freezing temperatures to get to The Hook in Brooklyn.

Friday 26 opened with The Nox Curve, a four piece band with a charismatic front man and a solid drummer. The guitar player had probably the nicest SG Gibson ever seen on an Emergenza stage. This guy could play it as well, so it was not just for show. Very tight.
Next up: Kill For This. They were a bunch of youngsters that had great tunes and good energy, perhaps more experience should do the trick and they should be ready in a couple of years, still, they were a lot of fun on the night.
Stephanie White and The New Jersey Philtharmonic showed the crowd that not only girls can rock better than boys, but that they do it with style as well. Backed up by a group of extremely competent musicians led by a drummer that would make any funky session drummer green with envy, Stephanie sang her heart out with power and control. Very entertaining.
Tina Vero was up next. This award winning singer songwriter created such a beautiful atmosphere that everything seemed nicer after her set. Her clear acoustic guitar tone and sweet voice impressed us girls to the point that we asked about her to the MC (who I could actually understand, even though he was from Australia)….got my copy of the CD!

Saturday 27 was a different story….still cold though. All bands seemed young and full of beans. Lady Panic was on first and displayed a rare professional approach despite them still being teen-agers. The lead singer is a great front person and hits the notes on the spot. Energy, energy, energy.
Elastic Pyramid was second on the bill and these boys (and a girl) showed that being nervous before getting on stage keeps you on your toes. The singer was playing a jumbo acoustic and belting tunes with more passion than a Latino man on a date with an English rose (I like to give hints obviously as you can tell). The lead guitarists had chops and the rhythm section kept a tight set. The fact that the bass player was actually a woman, made me think, why there aren’t so many of us on stage showing the boys how it’s done? (what happened to girl power is the real question). Fatal End was next and like the MC said, “the youngest band ever” was actually very impressive for such young age. Joking with the drummer who actually said on stage he was 15 but confessing later that he was 14, Skippy the Kangaroo (the MC) went on to encourage everybody “to get ear plugs”. These lads were loud. Frantic metal energy with guitar shredding all mixed in a spectacular 25 minutes set (are these boys just 30 year olds trapped in 15 year olds bodies?….unbelievable musicianship).
The fourth band of the night was The Johns. True NYC punk attitude with the goods to prove it. The singer was like a man possessed by the spirit of a young Iggy Pop mixed with a camp approach that you can old find on a Broadway stage. Stepping on stage he shouted: “we are not a my chemical romance cover band, I swear!”. With that intro they won me. The songs stood up on their own with lyrics so humorous and straight to the point that you could actually picture them in your mind... Imagine Scorsese’s infectious storytelling (ever seen an interview?)… it’s like the film’s already in your head.
The whole bands was sloshed and playing with a huge grin on their faces. Truly brilliant.
Sherman and Greg stepped up around 11pm and played an interesting set of wonderful tunes. I think comparison with any good any other band in the same “league”, in this case would be too restrictive. This duo with a full backing band just wrote great tunes and delivered like true professionals. These boys actually had an advantage being so experienced and confident but at the end of the day what counts are the tunes and these boys had them.
Last on stage to close the week-end was Paul Cote and His Beautiful Big Band, a six piece with a horn section. This man is brilliant. His style and stage presence made it worth it to stick around till the end. Great songs, a great voice and a very competent band (backing singer was perfectly in tune with harmonies). He took the stage and sang his heart out. This band was actually voted best unsigned act in the country by Billboard magazine (I trust the bible) and were featured by Howard Stern on his show (no matter what you think of him you have to respect his taste. After all he loves the Ramones) so when it came to show their spirit they delivered the goods. Simple as that. It was a brilliant way to finish the night.
I left on a high and went back out to the freezing cold with a warm feeling inside me: another Emergenza week-end delivered, another bunch of brilliant - Emergenza