If there’s one show that you have to see in New York City, it’s probably the Scissor Sisters. On this evening they were playing the Theatre at Madison Square Garden, my second favorite large venue (my favorite is the new Nokia Theatre, sound is unbelievable). So I got separated from Abbey early on and ended up in seats next to an outspoken, intoxicated radio DJ and her boyfriend. It was great – I had a running commentary on everything that happened, albeit negative, but definitely thorough.
We sat through three openers, which is a little excessive, especially given their nature. Funny story though. The first opener wasn’t billed anywhere, so unfortunately I don’t have a name. Try and think what two guys in a basement wearing spandex body suits with a microphone and a synthesizer would sound like. Bad electronica right? You’ve got it. The show was really more about them touching their bodies than anything. Maybe it was supposed to be funny. Mission accomplished. Anyways, this band opened for three wigs on sticks. That’s not a clever name or anything, they literally propped up like two broom sticks and a tree branch, topped them off with wigs, and played 1950’s girl group pop over the P.A. My DJ friend was immediately enraged at this setup and I made the mistake of defending it, thinking it would only go on for two or three songs. Six songs later I was becoming frustrated. Shortly thereafter, thankfully, they took down the wigs and the sticks and brought on a DJ. Again, he wasn’t billed anywhere, but I think he had a great set. So things were looking up.
The Scissor Sisters came on a while later and kicked it off right. They are loud and energetic and very shiny. A lot of what they do is a stage show – SS are really big entertainers so it was good to see them on a large stage. The first half of the set brought us pretty little glam-rock disco gems like ‘Laura’, ‘Tits on the Radio’ and ‘She’s My Man’. And as I let the glittery pop music and vigorous dance stylings of Jake Shears and Ana Matronic take over my brain, I remembered the last time I had been at the MSG Theater. It was for Radiohead, but it didn’t seem possible that it was the same place. The atmosphere that the Scissor Sisters create is so complete that it seems to even change your surroundings.
What I said before about seeing this show in NYC is absolutely true. The band made full use of the home court advantage and Ana Matronic gave a full dissertation on the state of the city. We talked about the closing of the Roxy, the subway system, cabaret license laws, and we hated all over Giuliani. It was great. It was too bad though, I had to leave a few songs early, as I had already missed the first two hours of my birthday party, but the majority of the show I caught was probably worth it. And it totally made up for the sad little parade of openers, which actually just strikes me as funny now.
