Live In Concert - Luscious Jackson and Manbreak
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
[an error occurred while processing this directive]

MANBREAK
And
LUSCIOUS JACKSON


Reviewed By

Donn Jehs


USF Sundome
9/25/97

As a kid who grew up on the "Stones," "The Who," "Yes," etc., I have often wondered where the next generation of rock & roll is coming from. Well never fear, I have seen the future and the future is "Live," "Manbreak" and "Luscious Jackson." All three bands tonight showed they know how to rock & roll.

Manbreak
Opening the night's bill was the British group "Manbreak," named after a U.K. government experiment on British soldiers of chemical agents much akin to the infamous U.S. experiments using Army soldiers in A bomb tests. The group consists of singer/songwriter Swindelli, lead guitarist Snaykee, rhythm guitarist and vocalist Mr.Blonde, bassist Roy Van Der Kerkoff, and drummer Stu Boy. Most of the material performed was from their latest recording, "Come and See."

They opened with a really hard rocking tune called appropriately "Let The Good Times Roll," and from there the evening only got better. "News Of The World" followed, a song which gives evidence of the social consciousness of Swindelli, who isn't afraid to tackle social issues in his lyrics. "Big Buddha," Round and Round" and "Ready Or Not" were all high voltage drum pounding, guitar-blasting songs. The best song of the set followed, "Kop Karma," which got the audience (those that were lucky enough or smart enough to come early) rockin' in their seats. They closed the set with "Future Days" and got a pretty good hand from the as yet sparse crowd. My thanks to Dr. Blonde for providing me with the playlist as once again the venue managed to mangle the lyrics for all but the folks directly in front of the stage. Dr. Blonde assured me that being the opening band was a good gig in spite of the conditions and they appreciated the fans who came early and heard them.

Luscious Jackson

After a relatively short break "Luscious Jackson" took the stage and rocked up a storm. Opening their set with "Pele" from their latest album "Fever In, Fever Out," the girls from New York City showed they weren't taking a backseat to anyone when it came to hard rocking music. If it weren't for the skirts and slightly higher voices it was just a rocking group of musicians. Actually these days skirts and high voices aren't necessarily defining. Certainly the band doesn't feel that way about themselves.

The group consists of Jill Cunniff on bass guitar and vocals, Vivien Trimble on keyboards and backup vocals, Gabrielle Glaser on vocals and guitar and drummer Kate Shellenbach. City girls with an edge.

Next up was "Here," a tune that many would recognize from the soundtrack of the movie "Clueless," and "Bam," before returning to a cut from their latest album, "Naked Eye." "Angel" and "Mood" followed before the band really got the house moving with "Rock Freak." This song really got me going with tremendous guitar play and a real workout for the drummer. It's no surprise that this was an audience favorite. The lights got a workout too, including a favorite new form of strong yellow backlighting that also lights up the audience. Red and blue seemed to be the favorite colors though and the band was bathed in them as the music got hot and cold.

Unlike most bands "Luscious" didn't take time out to talk much to the fans, they simply jammed and let the music do all the talking. "Lie" and "Surprise" followed with no letup in the quality of play and they closed the set wih "Citysong" from the "Natural Ingredients" album. Drummer Kate even came out from behind her drums to boogie on down the stage. The ladies were obviously having a good time and got people hungry for more good rock and roll.

NOTE: See the review of LIVE, the Headliners at this concert, in the Feature Artist article.

 



Back to Concerts