Madison Rock City

I have vast reserves of goodwill built up toward the Gore Gore Girls. Not only do they put out fun, loud records (both Strange Girls and Up All Night are well worth your sheckels), not only does their whole aesthetic appeal to me in a very primal sort of way, but I'm also touched by their seeming determination to visit every backwoods, out-of-the-way hamlet they can reasonably afford to. Not only have they dropped by Madison more than once, but a quick glance at their tour schedule shows that they didn't forget such rolling metropolii as Morgentown, WV or Las Cruces, NM or or Victor, ID or Bozeman, MT or Rock Island, IL. As a hick from the sticks myself, I appreciate it.

The unfortunate side of this is that sometimes you have dates like last night's show at the High Noon. Oh, the GGGs were good enough; certainly worth leaving the house for. And man, can that Amy Surdu ever sing or what? Watching someone who's got a real voice and isn't afraid to use it has been a pleasure that I've come to appreciate more and more in recent years. Most of the groups I go see aren't exactly famous for their overwhelming instrumental prowess; they can usually fake it well enough, which is more than enough for me (I mean, otherwise I may as well go see Dream Theater) (which I have no intention of doing) (ever). You can't fake a golden set of pipes, though, and the physical sensation you get from standing next to someone with a great, big voice is worth the admission price every time.

Sadly, not a lot of people seemed to care, as last night's show was one of the sparest, attendance-wise, that I've been to at the HN. I assume this is due to a combination of poor promotion, the fact that it was a weeknight show, competition in the form of another, more heavily-publicized and hipper show downtown (featuring these party animals; Dream Theater indeed) and the almost congenitally poor taste in music that Madison has collectively displayed since about 1966. Well, thanks anyway, Gore Gore Girls; I only hope that all the beat junkies in Rock Island can pick up our slack.