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Concert Fri Jan 24 2014
Review: Perfect Pussy @ Schubas 1/22
Perfect Pussy created a little bit of a reputation for themselves with their chaotic shows during the CMJ music marathon last year. They parlayed that buzz into a well received EP, I Have Lost All Lost All Desire For Feeling. They were subsequently signed by the tastemaker label Captured Tracks, and tasked with recording a full length album and going on tour.
I arrived at Schubas on Wednesday around 8:30 to an increasingly full house. I grabbed a beer and made my way through the growing crowd. The band was already on stage setting up, and without much fanfare or warning, started playing around 8:45. The problem with that was they weren't supposed to start until 9.
Dressed like an Edie Sedgwick acolyte and charismatically prancing around like Janelle Monáe, Meredith Graves alongside her comrade in arms commanded the attention of everybody in the room. Abrasive guitars and drony electronics captivated the audience as they played the entirety of their EP and a few other songs at a breakneck speed. And just as quickly and suddenly as they started, they ended; shortly before 9 o'clock when they were originally supposed to start in the first place. According to staff at the venue, they played a 14-minute set. A large amount of people who showed up right before 9 to see the band found themselves greeted by the news that they had missed them entirely and were a bit bemused.
I can't quite fully co-sign a band that only does a 14-minute set. Let me explain. Fourteen minute sets can be sensible in certain situations. In the middle of a bill of some showcase at a music festival like CMJ or (inevitably) SXSW, where volume is key and you share the stage with a large amount of bands, short and intense performances can make sense. But at this point Perfect Pussy has gotten signed by a legitimate label, are recording a full length album, are in the middle of a highly publicized national tour and are getting attention from major media outlets. They are no longer a nameless band struggling for time. For lack of a better term, they've graduated. Thus, they need to play reasonably longer shows.
I'm against artificially padding set lengths with unnecessary covers and fake encores, but I'm not seeing much of a reason why they couldn't have played a little more of their new material. Also, start at the time you're supposed to. It's really not cool to have people pay and travel to see you, only to discover that they missed your set because you decided to start and finish early. The 14 minutes I heard were tremendous. Songs like "II" sounded spectacular in a live setting. The framework is clearly there. As a functioning band, they need a little bit of work though. I'm not too worried, I have a feeling they'll get there.
Susan S / January 24, 2014 2:10 PM
Showing up only for the headliner however is disrespectful to the opening bands. Show up around the time doors open and you won't miss a thing.