I was anticipating this Free Monday night at the Empty Bottle. I looked up Tinsel Teeth after reading about them at the 'Bottle website. The Chinese Stars I read on some death rock/gothic magazine review on them that I recall. This is something to go on time for. Upon arriving I noticed how they were setting up the stage on the floor where the crowd would be. As I was processing the fascination of this, everyone was taking their places as close to the band as possible. Tinsel Teeth from Providence, Rhode Island were about to begin. This already felt like the kind of performance that shatters the fourth wall with the audience by setting up in their very space. I find a good spot to sit down on. The female lead had this blond wig on, and a skinny black dress with black cowboy boots on. The crowd gathers not to party but to witness. It's like they're gonna see an accident. If they are setting up on the floor it's for a reason. And so the reason started, or uhm, was set off like a short fuse.
The girl just went ape shit like Queen Adreena. The girl growled and convulsed over the chaotic drone of the guitars. She was just throwing herself all over the place. The girl had this growl of a voice, deep.....not girly at all. At some point she strapped on a dildo, and bounced around with it, until it broke off. The wig had long since fallen to reveal this shock of black hair. The girl's dress, soaked in sweat rolled up and stayed up, and her red striped panties were there for all to see. She spat out fake blood all over the place, looked like a roller derby vet. Everyone in the band actually looked bandaged and battle scarred. The girl often would convulse herself into the crowd, and merge back out, thrashing about the whole time. It was crazy and I loved it. The black dress the singer had on, was so soaked in sweat that her top fell off....or rolled down, just like Queen Adreena. And the band played on. At the merch table the band members were real cool, this is when the girl's tattoos were more noticeable. Katie Jane Garside from Queen Adreena I would not expect at the merch table at all. I believe her to be too shy and aloof. But not this lead singer. She was cool, not aloof. She didn't even seem drunk. The craziness was put away, spent during performance. In case one notices that I don't use her name, I didn't ask......it just didn't come up, and the band's myspace page does not help.
This Monday night suddenly did not feel like one. It's so cool when that happens. You are having such a good time that your internal calender does not register the night as Monday night. The main act, Chinese Stars had yet to play at this point and I was not expecting to like them as much as I eventually did. I was ready to go home after Tinsel Teeth. I stayed around and met people that I knew from going to Veggie Bite so much. The wonder of that moment had me stay long enough to wait for the middle act to finish. I kept recalling in my mind how I read about Chinese Stars in a death rock magazine but I can also go home sooner. Tinsel Teeth already made this night memorable. I figured I can wait and hear one song, and then go home. I'm so into female vocalists that sometimes I don't know what I'm saying no to until I miss it, or almost miss it. I could have walked out before Chinese Stars, but I did not and I feel fortunate.
Monday nights at the 'Bottle can peak and then empty out fast. Well that can be any night anywhere, sometimes the main act has the least amount of people in the audience. The crowd just thins out. They saw who they wanted and then go home. On a Monday that can happen fast 'cause the next day is still Tuesday no matter how Friday-ish the Monday night felt. So when the crowd stays and actually gets bigger until the very end that is very special. Now, I did say when Tinsel Teeth played, people gathered to witness. They all knew that there was something to see. For Chinese Stars, it was the people who went apeshit. Perhaps this betrays my relatively short relationship with Empty Bottle, but I have never seen a mosh pit there, at least not before this band. I absolutely loved it. These guys just owned the joint. I took no video, because for anyone that sees it would only see a bald guy with a slight gut using the mic like he's beating off, as fans cheer him on. That and I was too busy enjoying it myself. As mosh pits go, this was relatively we behaved. It's quite something when you see girls in the pit, I assume them to be more reserved, less reckless than guys, and yet there they were pitting. I was a fan from the first song. Their blood pumps fast, their bass is bouncy and dance friendly. In a goth club this can work to wake people up. The singer has this cool pervy type of voice. I still can't get enough of the two CD's I got. They will come back to Chicago I think next year.
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