THE BLUEBONNETS + THE PRISCILLAS + I, DORIS + COWZ – THE PRINCE ALBERT, BRIGHTON 21.6.24
If you cast your mind back to the beginning of the 1980’s, it’s likely that you may recall a new wave pop female five piece outfit by the name of the Go-Go’s. This especially being the case if you are an American as the band’s debut long-player ‘Beauty And The Beat’, made it all the way to the top of the American Album Charts in 1981. At this time amongst the band’s ranks was Kathy Valentine on bass and backing vocals, who prior to that at the age of 14 while visiting England with her mother, had happened to see Suzi Quatro performing on ‘Top Of The Pops’, and said that it blew her mind and it had never occurred to her that a woman could be a rockstar. The seeds were well and truly sewn!
In the late 1970s, Kathy formed Austin punk band The Violators alongside Carla Olson, Jesse Sublett and Marilyn Dean. She then moved to Los Angeles in 1978 and co-founded The Textones, who she left in 1980 and joined The Go-Gos. Completing the Go-Go’s lineup was Gina Schock on drums, Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar, keyboards and backing vocals, plus the rather more well known Belinda Carlisle on lead vocals and percussion, as well as Jane Wiedlin on rhythm guitar and backing vocals. Initially they ran for seven years (1978-1985), and then after comebacks in 1990 and 1994, the outfit were on the case from 1999 until 2022. On 30th October 2021, the Go-Go’s were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by longtime fan Drew Barrymore.
In her downtime from the Go-Go’s, Texan born Kathy Valentine formed The BlueBonnets and the quartet released a trio of albums: ‘Boom Boom Boom Boom’ (2010), ‘Play Loud’ (2014) and ‘Tonewrecker’ (2017). Her bandmates being Californian born actress and musician Dominique Davalos who is known as a member of Dominatrix & The Delphines; Houston born guitarist Eve Monsees who incidentally co-owns Antone’s Record Shop in Austin, Texas; and completing the lineup is drummer Kristy McInnis who is originally from Springfield, Missouri. And it’s these four ladies that have been booked to play live tonight in Brighton at The Prince Albert as special headline guests courtesy of Loud Women promoters.
Tonight is very much about “sisters doin’ it for themselves” and so (unusually) the whole bill features solely women, with just one male guest vocalist, more on that later. Prior to the start of the evening, there was quite a bit of swapping around regarding the running order and so that’s what we too are going to do in this review. Therefore we are staying with The BlueBonnets who were actually third of four acts on stage tonight.
The quartet grace the stage at 9:31pm and across the next 45 minutes we are given no less than a dozen tracks. The band are introduced by event organiser Cassie, who draws our attention to The BlueBonnets attire, which is matching blue trousers and jackets with different embroidered style designs on the rear. As you would expect, the venue is almost at full capacity for our American friends as they launch into their gritty riff filled garage rock’n’roll opener ‘Carboy’ which is the first of four selections from 2010’s ‘Boom Boom Boom Boom’ album. It goes down well with the mixed aged punters and The BlueBonnets follow it up with ‘Be My Man’ which can be found on 2017’s ‘Tonewrecker’ album. This tune has a funkier vibe which reminded me of a combination of the Red Hot Chili Peppers meets the New York Dolls. Selection three I believe is an unreleased tune called ‘I Want You The Way I Want You’ and I think it referenced “must be chemicals” in it. There were more guitar licks for selections four and five as well, these being a couple of cuts from their ‘Tonewrecker’ album, namely ‘Bye Bye Baby’ and ‘15 Minutes From 1965’.
A curveball was thrown at us next as we were informed that drummer Kristy McInnis wanted to play their next offering and she delivered the vocals for ‘There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis’ which was penned by the late great Kirsty MacColl. Suffice to say it went down an absolute storm! Normal service was resumed with Dominique back on lead vocals with the arrival of ‘Psychometer’. This being the first of three songs from their 2014 ‘Play Loud’ album, and a tune which certainly highlighted Eve’s whoa whoa guitar playing. It’s whilst watching Eve in action that I concluded that The BlueBonnets would be a great match to go out on tour with any of Clem Burke’s bands, be it Blondie, The Empty Hearts or The Tearaways. Funnily enough Clem was the touring drummer for the Go-Go’s in 2021.
From here on it’s fair to say that the musicianship went further up a notch and Kathy let loose on the tremolo on her guitar during ‘Can’t Stop The Honey’, which is on their ‘Boom Boom Boom Boom’ album from back in 2010. Not to be outdone, Dominique gave us a meaty bass intro on ‘Time Bomb’ and then for their cover of The Delphines ‘Losin’ My Man’, which they recorded on their ‘Boom Boom Boom Boom’ album, the front trio were tighter than ever and it was Status Quo guitar riffs and licks a plenty and no wonder why this was their best received song to date! The punters, which included Spear Of Destiny’s Kirk Brandon and Gaye Bykers On Acid’s Ian Reynolds aka Robber Byker, were lapping it up! The BlueBonnets setlist’s were showing ‘Treat Her Right’, the Roy Head cover from 2014’s ‘Play Loud’ album as coming next, but as I was so busy being absorbed into the music, this was more than likely omitted, if not it was tagged on to the end of ‘Losin’ My Man’, but I don’t think it was. Kathy then gave us a couple of options as their final number and we settled on some Texas punk rock in the form of ‘Playin’ With Guns’ (from 2014’s ‘Play Loud’ album), with Kristy’s drumming reminding me of Sweet’s epic ‘Ballroom Blitz’. And that was our lot and at 10:16pm the quartet vacated their stage in the knowledge that they had played a blinder! Although strictly not my go to choice of music, I can report that The BlueBonnets are up there with the most accomplished musicians that I have encountered!
The BlueBonnets:
Kathy Valentine – guitar, backing vocals
Dominique Davalos – lead vocals, bass
Eve Monsees – guitar
Kristy McInnis – drums, vocals
The BlueBonnets setlist:
‘Carboy’ (from 2010 ‘Boom Boom Boom Boom’ album)
‘Be My Man’ (from 2017 ‘Tonewrecker’ album)
‘I Want You The Way I Want You’ (unreleased)
‘Bye Bye Baby’ (from 2017 ‘Tonewrecker’ album)
‘15 Minutes From 1965’ (from 2017 ‘Tonewrecker’ album)
‘There’s a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He’s Elvis’ (Kirsty MacColl cover)
‘Psychometer’ (from 2014 ‘Play Loud’ album)
‘Can’t Stop The Honey’ (from 2010 ‘Boom Boom Boom Boom’ album)
‘Time Bomb’ (from 2010 ‘Boom Boom Boom Boom’ album)
‘Losin’ My Man’ (The Delphines cover) (from 2010 ‘Boom Boom Boom Boom’ album)
‘Treat Her Right’ (Roy Head cover) (from 2014 ‘Play Loud’ album)
‘Playin’ With Guns’ (from 2014 ‘Play Loud’ album)
The last of the four acts to be added onto tonight’s billing were The Priscillas who interestingly Youth (of Killing Joke fame) referred to as being “X-Ray Spex meets Go-Go’s”. An accurate assumption I’d say and so well worthy of their inclusion this evening. The Priscillas have in their time released a few singles, two of which were played on Radio 1, BBC6 Music. They have released an EP titled ‘Aloha From Holloway’ as well as a great album called ‘10,000 Volts’ a while back. The Priscillas have also played sessions for Marc Riley on BBC 6Music. The band has toured extensively, and have played with bands including The Cramps, The Damned, The Rezillos, The 5,6,7,8s, and many more. Of late they have been back on the case and their new material has included the 2023 single ‘Angela’ which is about the global women’s safety campaign #askforangela, which is a scheme that helps anyone who is feeling vulnerable on a night out to get the support they need.
The Priscillas latest release is a tune going by the title of ‘The Dream’, which was written by lead singer Jenny Drag about the late Pete Shelley with whom she was close friends. It is a celebration of their decades-long friendship and a lament to his death recalling the startling dream she had predicting it. Aside from their relationship, Jenny is a huge fan of his band Buzzcocks and their influence can be heard in the nostalgic lyrics, Gibson guitar hooks, and melodic harmonies. It is a dedication which piqued the interest of Malcolm Garrett, the graphic designer famous for giving Buzzcocks, along with Duran Duran, Simple Minds, and The Members their signature aesthetic in the ’70s and ’80s on collectable record sleeves. The Priscillas managed to get Malcolm involved in curating the artwork and video art direction for this release. I, myself, have been fortunate to have met Malcolm and he is honestly one of the nicest people you will ever meet!
Back to this evening at The Prince Albert and The Priscillas are in fact the second act on the bill tonight and their 10 song set ran from 8:44pm until 9:15pm. The band consists of the aforementioned lead singer Jenny Drag, along with Valkyrie on guitars/vocals, Taylor on bass/vocals, and the one and only Jola on drums, who also happens to be Adam Ant’s drummer, although you wouldn’t necessarily recognise her without her tall blond bouffant bonnet. Thankfully the venue is almost full as the band kick off with the unusual ‘Mystical Shit’ which blends an almost Indian style chant with punk beat, which increases in pace as the song goes along. Track two is the first of four from their ‘10,000 Volts’ long-player, this being ‘(All The Way To) Holloway’ which is a catchy pop punk tune which reminds me of The Photos who were fronted by Wendy Wu whose self-titled album made it to No.4 in the UK Albums Chart back in 1980. I was fortunate to grab myself a copy when released and it had a second disc titled ‘The Blackmail Tapes’, which arguably had better material, although there was controversy at the time as chart return shops were “apparently” targeted in a ticks for cameras scandal.
Track three tonight was ‘Oh Keiko’ which had a Blondie vibe going down. This was followed by the aforementioned new single ‘The Dream’ which Jenny gave a big-up to that nice Mr Garrett. This segued straight into the X-Ray Spex sounding ‘Fly In My Drink’ which was another decent tune. ‘TfL Chris Didn’t Know Liberace Was Gay’ was their next offering and one in which featured Jenny and Valkyrie on joint vocals and some impressive powerful drumming from Jola. This was a really tight number with a 1978 vibe. The swinging pop punk ‘Out Of Your Mind’ was their next selection and yet again another enjoyable number. I was slightly thrown by the beginning of their next live tune, ‘Y.O.Y.’ (as in “why oh why”) on account of Jenny’s vocals sounding like it was actually someone else singing! This was the only track that she sounded different, and it had a faster pace than the previous numbers, which no doubt inspired Jenny to leave the stage for a brief foray into the crowd for some up close and personal encounters. This was for me their best composition thus far!
Their penultimate delivery was the slower ‘Plastic’, which initially had a beat akin to Pil’s ‘Rise’ before it all kicked in and suddenly we were in Pauline Murray’s Penetration territory. This was another decent tune and Jola’s drumming certainly shone through here. They signed off with the aforementioned 2023 single ‘Angela’ which was very well received in subject matter as well as the beat, which for me once more reminded me of The Photos. And that was our lot. It had been a solid set and I wished that they played more local gigs!
The Priscillas:
Jenny Drag – lead vocals, tambourine
Valkyrie – guitars, backing vocals
Taylor – bass, backing vocals
Jola – drums
The Priscillas setlist:
‘Mystical Shit’ (unreleased)
‘(All The Way To) Holloway’ (from 2009 ‘10,000 Volts’ album)
‘Oh Keiko’ (from 2009 ‘10,000 Volts’ album)
‘The Dream’ (a 2024 single)
‘Fly In My Drink’ (from 2009 ‘10,000 Volts’ album)
‘TfL Chris Didn’t Know Liberace Was Gay’
‘Out Of Your Mind’ (unreleased)
‘Y.O.Y.’ (from 2009 ‘10,000 Volts’ album)
‘Plastic’ (unreleased)
‘Angela’ (a 2023 single)
Kicking off tonight’s music were Brighton’s alt-pop next-big-thing bestie duo COWZ who are Swedish born Saga Wahlström on vocals and laptop duties, as well as Natasha ‘Tasha’ Nicholl aka Tasha Bloom also on vocals. On my debut encounter with them over a year ago they were joined by live drummer Joshy, but these days, it’s just the two girls on stage with their microphones. Their music is actually made (I believe) by Saga without anyone else’s help, so although I guess this falls under a PA style performance, it is their own work!
They formed back in 2021 after Tash moved in with Saga, although not in the biblical sense. Their bubble-gum pop sounds are more often than not vocally delivered in unison, which was rather impressive. They commenced their brief 23 minute 7 song set from 8:00pm on the dot up until 8:23pm. At the very start, sadly the room was only a quarter full which is a real shame! Each song comes with an endearing dance routine that would be a true inspiration for young girls with hair brushes in front of the mirrors up and down the country. There’s clearly a bond between the two of them just like Let’s Eat Grandma and this adds a sparkle to COWZ performances. Musically I reckon that they would be an ideal support act for the likes of Lynks, Piri & Tommy, Girli or Caity Baser.
They kicked off with their 2024 ‘Domination’ single with its catchy “la la la” chorus and the space travel line “Last tickets to Venus”, which reminded me of the classic ‘Automatic Lover’ by Dee D. Jackson. This tune is now also to be found on their recent ‘That’s Cute! Baby’ EP as are four other songs from tonight’s performance, including song two which is ‘Most Fun In Ages’, which was an enjoyably bouncy number and had the vibe of a double Girli vocal delivery. Next up was ‘Rosalie’ which dropped on 11th April and we are informed was penned about “Rosalie Hale from ‘Twilight’ who pulls a lot of bitches!”. This tune was the slowest so far. It was now the turn of their ‘Bad News’ single which hasn’t long been out either. They are clearly having fun on stage and their joyful deliveries lightens up the hearts of the ever increasing audience. They told us about their EP and that they like to gossip. The next song isn’t actually on the EP though or even called ‘Gossip’, its title is ‘Elephant’. Their bubble-gum pop earworms continued with the arrival of penultimate tune ‘La La Like You’ which is quite possibly the set highlight for me. Their feel good factor performance came to a close with their singalong earworm ‘Psychos’. Suffice to say I had a smile on my face throughout their set and thankfully the venue had become nearly full at the conclusion of their performance. COWZ will be playing their first ever headline show and it takes place at the Green Door Store in Brighton on Wednesday 24th July. Tickets are only available on the door and are a mere £3! Plus keep your eyes peeled for more COWZ concerts over the next few weeks!
COWZ:
Saga Wahlström – vocals, laptop
Natasha ‘Tasha’ Nicholl aka Tasha Bloom – vocals
COWZ setlist:
‘Domination’ (from 2024 ‘That’s Cute! Baby’ EP)
‘Most Fun In Ages’ (from 2024 ‘That’s Cute! Baby’ EP)
‘Rosalie’ (from 2024 ‘That’s Cute! Baby’ EP)
‘Bad News’ (from 2024 ‘That’s Cute! Baby’ EP)
‘Elephant’ (unreleased)
‘La La Like You’ (unreleased)
‘Psychos’ (from 2024 ‘That’s Cute! Baby’ EP)
And finally closing this evening’s entertainment are I, Doris who refer to themselves as a “kitchenpop/mummycore band“, or as Soundblab have put it as “Feminist post-punk delivered with a fun DIY attitude and heaps of humour … ready to take the patriarchy on one gig at a time”. They consist of Doris, Doris, Doris, Doris and Doris or if you prefer Cassie Fox, Lucy Morgan, Vic Workman, Lenie Mets and Louisa Edwards Knight. They are donning their trademark 5-a-side red pinnie’s with their stage names on them, namely ‘Doris’ and are introduced during their set as ‘Doris’. I note that the sound engineer has to take to the stage mid-set and mid-tune in order to fix lead vocalist Doris’ drooping microphone. I’m not sure of her name, it could have been Zoe, but I’ll settle on Doris.
They kick off their 8 song 35 minute set at 10:30pm with the list of Doris pledges and after each one we repeat “I do” and so the table is set and there will be no coveting of another Doris’s Doris and so on. They begin with their 2019 ‘Just Some Doris’ single, which is a beautiful slice of catchy post punk that John Peel would have caned to death and a song which I’m guessing the great Helen McCookerybook would truly love. Their second selection is a clever re-working of ‘Up The Junction’ by Squeeze, which is called ‘Girl From Clapham’ and is found on the 2021 ‘I, Doris’ mini album. We learn that when I, Doris played live with Squeeze, the band gave it their seal of approval.
Next they are on to their 2022 ‘Does Your Girlfriend Know You’re Here?’ single, which was penned about the curse of internet dating. It’s a toe-tapping tune which benefits from multiple Doris vocals. The lighthearted theme continued with last year’s catchy post punk ‘HRT’ single, which saw a trio of Doris’s….hmmm what’s the collective name for a bunch of Doris’s? Maybe Dori?, anyway…..on shared vocals and this track reminded me of The Mo-dettes and was the best tune for me thus far. The band were pleasingly in sync, including new guitarist Doris who is making her live debut. They carry on with a tune referred to as ‘DIY’ but is in fact called ‘Do It Myself’, which was a 2023 single and is “about special alone self time” as it’s put, and there was some serious amount of energy going on here, with the drumming I mean and not referring to it’s cheeky lyrics!
It had now finally come the time for a bloke to grace tonight’s stage, cue local anarchist Dunstan Bruce of Chumbawamba fame, who has today dropped his new single with I, Doris, this being ‘Not Done Yet’, and so he sportingly donned his special red Dunstan pinnie and he merrily sang away in his usual Mark E. Smith style vocal delivery. As you would expect it’s a catchy little number! Minutes later he was done and the Doris’s played on, this being ‘In The Ladies’ from the 2021 ‘I, Doris’ mini album, which sadly isn’t their own take of the Village People tune! Opportunity missed methinks! Aware of the slight over-run, they segued straight into the unreleased ‘Rebel Doris’, which is a bass laden punk chant earworm number, which was a fab way to end the evening and was my choice tune from their set, even though Doris’s keytar was surplus to requirements on this number. It was 11:05pm and the smell of success was in the air! Job done!
I, Doris:
Cassie Fox – vocals, bass
Lucy Morgan – vocals, keytar
Vic Workman – vocals, lead guitar
Lenie Mets – vocals, rhythm guitar
Louisa Edwards Knight – drums
Dunstan Bruce – vocals
I, Doris setlist:
‘Just Some Doris’ (a 2019 single)
‘Girl From Clapham’ (from 2021 ‘I, Doris’ mini album)
‘Does Your Girlfriend Know You’re Here?’ (a 2022 single)
‘HRT’ (a 2023 single)
‘Do It Myself’ (a 2023 single)
‘Not Done Yet’ (feat. Dunstan Bruce) (a 2024 single)
‘In The Ladies’ (from 2021 ‘I, Doris’ mini album)
‘Rebel Doris’ (unreleased)
