The three-letter-band-name trio of EMA, MEN, and CSS graced the small town music haven of Athens, GA last week for their only stop in the southeast on this national tour. A very pleased town it was to have them, from the uber-enthusiastic girl in the purple sequined dress who ended up hoisting herself on stage during the last song of the night to the throngs of tatteredly dressed townies that didn’t seem to know what hit them. But hit them it did. Like a rock.
Though I missed the majority of EMA’s set due to guest list confusion, thanks to help from our wonderful friends at the legendary 40 Watt Theatre, I was able to make my way inside to catch the tail end of Erika M. Anderson’s emotion-driven set. I was pleased to see her perform some of my favorite songs from the record, which received the coveted “Best New Music” title on Pitchfork this past May. “Grey Ship,” the opening ballad on Past Life Martyred Saints, stopped the crowd in its tracks, creating an unmistakable sentiment in air of the still under-crowded venue. Ending her set with “California,” Erika dropped her guitar in exchange for a passion-filled vocal only performance that was even more gut wrenching in delivery than I would have expected from the recorded version (which is saying a lot).
MEN took the stage with a vengeance, immediately demanding attention with the powerful dance jam “Life’s Half Price.” It was obvious that this crowd came out ready to party. One young fan, who had driven from South Carolina for the show, yelled out with a bit much enthusiasm (is that possible?), “Let’s have some f***ing fun!” Samson agreed by repeating the suggestion through the microphone with a small but honest smile on her face.
The self-described “performance art collective” led by JD Samson (formerly of Le Tigre) and rounded out by friends Michael O'Neill and Ginger Brooks Takahashi released their first full-length this spring after over three years of touring, and their experience performing live was apparent. The stage was adorned with life size cutouts of the band donned in jumpsuits matching the ones they took the stage wearing (which Samson later stripped off to reveal her iconic MEN tank top.) Rolling fervently through “Make It Reverse” and “Simultaneously,” MEN continued to work the crowd into a frenzy packed in a half circle around the front of the stage.
My favorite song of the night may have been the next song in the set and the lead single from Talk About Body, “Credit Card Babie$,” which from the title alone, one would think it was referring to spoiled rich kids. But with lyrics like “We want some options. There is a way. Why don’t you adopt? Borrow someone’s cock. Call up the bank,” along with Samson’s hilarious pantomiming sign language throughout, no one was left confused as to the meaning of the song.
After the politically charged “Boom Boom Boom,” Samson took a moment to stop and tell us about taking the time to go to the site of the ongoing “Occupy Athens” sit-in and encouraging everyone else to do the same - a much appreciated reference to the politics that drive this record.
By the fifth song, “Off Our Backs,” the moderately sized crowd had broken into an all out dance party. With enough space to move but enough excitement to fill the room, there was an intimate enthusiasm about the show that allowed everyone to feel involved.
With only one album to date, the band was able to run through all of the favorites and closed out with the perfect party anthem, “Who Am I To Feel So Free?” With a chant-able chorus and a worked up crowd, one can imagine that this one ended the set with a bang.
Talk About Body is certainly not just a record to be performed live, although I can say from first hand experience that it is better that way. Covering topics from economic injustice to sexual identity and gender issues (and at times overlapping the these issues), this is a record with a message. With the current situation on Wall Street, it seems that there couldn’t be a better time for MEN to be on tour spreading this message and backing it with a danceable beat that makes the live show accessible to anyone who likes to have fun. Samson has said that the group’s goal is to show the “radical potential of dance music,” and from the reaction of the crowd in Athens last week, she has done her part to achieve just that.
CSS closed out the night with a well-rounded set that would have pleased new fans as well as old. Covering everything from “Alala,” “Art Bitch,” and my personal favorite “Music Is My Hot Hot Sex” to a healthy serving of jams from their newest record, La Liberacion, CSS delivered it all. The show was exactly what I would have expected from this raucous Brazilian dance pop group. A ton of fun.
Every member of the band was obviously having a great time on stage, but Lovefoxxx stole the show with her ridiculous-yet-awesome dance moves and I-don’t-give-a-f**k attitude. She involved the crowd as much as possible, at one point taking a red paper heart from a gentleman in the crowd, reading the note her had written on it, and putting the mic in his face for the Brazilian chorus of the next song, which he attempted enthusiastically yet poorly.
Again- the size of the crowd was ideal for this show. Small enough to have space to boogie but big enough to hold up JD Samson when she ran on stage, briefly shared the mic with guitarist Luiza Sa and leaped into an ever-so-receptive mass of excited fans at the front of the stage. You could tell that these two bands enjoyed being on tour together. This is also evident off stage, as they recently collaborated on a 7” split entitled We Are Friends on which CSS remixes MEN’s “Rip Off” and MEN put their twist on “City Grrrl” from La Liberacion.
The show was an eclectic yet satisfying blend of heart wrenching grunge/shoegaze, gender bending party jams with a political statement, and a free spirited Brazilian dance party led by the appropriately named Lovefoxxx. Though clearly a dynamic that makes no sense on paper, if I can be sold bold as to speak for more than myself and the handful of people that I knew at The 40 Watt that Wednesday night, we all left with a feeling that we got more than we bargained for.
By Michelle King with photos by Kate Hänsel
for MovementMagazine.com
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