If it’s true that every generation throws a hero up the pop charts, there must be something in the Thames that dramatically shortens the human gestation cycle. Either that, or the English system for creating and selling celebrity, distilled perfectly in the late Malcolm McLaren, still works like gangbusters in a musical post-industrial age.
There’s no point in peeking behind the curtain, though, when somebody like V.V. Brown is on stage. She’s got the goods, and at least two or three more really, really good albums before NME ditches her for someone younger. Now, Fremont on a Friday night can be pretty daunting any more, but it was worth it to overcome my fear of hipster rejection and nurse a beer at the back of the room, just watching the people until Vanessa and the band came out.
Take equal parts Lily Allen and Peter Gabriel, add 1/3 Yma Sumac, glance over at Wanda Jackson, and divide by Corinne Bailey Rae. (Unlike my online friend Bill, who gets the shout-out on this one, I’m not a real music critic. So it’s okay for me to play celebrity math.) You can easily forgive someone like that their slight insecurities (“you guys having a good time?”), which, although seemingly at odds with her remarkable, confident delivery, probably bothered no one but me. Brown used that mallet in her hand to announce her presence with authority, starting with the big-beat “Everybody” and running through an entire set of impossible-to-dislike songs including “Quick Fix,” “Bottles,” and of course “Shark in the Water.” Karyn told me she woke up Saturday morning with the earworm from that last one. Me, I had it all weekend. It wasn’t unpleasant.
Tags: concert review · Nectar Lounge · VV Brown2 Comments
2 responses so far ↓
“Announce her presence with authority”! Ha ha.
That’s a standing joke in our house.