Of The Kills and Margaret Cho

It's been a busy week. While getting over my cold this past week, I continued with my plans; and perhaps, in this more sickly, weary state of mind, I was more critical than I would otherwise be, though I am not entirely sure that's the case.

The Kills, who played at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Friday, were great, lively performers. The Kills, a boy/girl duo (Alison "VW" Mosshart, the female lead singer, as well as guitarist, and Jamie "Hotel" Hince, lead guitarist) were both rockstar musicians with frenetic energy on the stage and humble performers who continuously graciously thanked the audience. Mosshart especially was apologetic and sincere in her remarks to the crowd; after I initially wondered if she might be under the influence of something after seeing her flying around the stage, she gravely apologized to the crowd, saying she was actually a bit sick and would get through the performance as best as she could. Huh. If she hadn't made these remarks referring to her poor state of heath, I would have been left suspecting exactly the opposite; so I give her credit in her truly stellar rockstar performance.
The Kills' live music set lived up to my expectations.... with one exception. They were not a full band. While apparently they receive a lot of comparisons to The White Stripes as an indie boy/girl band, The White Stripes play all of their instruments, while The Kills rely on a drum machine (and other pre-recorded music, possibly?) for their song beats. This somehow makes their music seem a bit less impressive and, well, more inauthentic, to me. But I am still hooked on their riffs, their energy, and their attitude. Their bio can be read here, which gives an intriguing account of how they started out working together as well as how they avoided approaches from major record labels.

And, a video to share with you:


Of Margaret Cho at Radio City Music Hall: The sheer crowd and lustre of Radio City Music Hall promised a good night for Cho.

(Radio City Music Hall, above)

As I expected, she included a substantial amount of comedy about the presidential campaign, staunchly emphasizing that Palin is not a feminist. I was proud of her opinionated contribution to the campaign, as well as of the audience's enthusiastic response to her remarks. As for the rest of her act, suffice it to say that she is very LGBTQ friendly and also very adult-themed. She was a strong crowd-pleaser and a good beginning to a Saturday night, if a little over-the-top!