Photo by Millicent Hailes
I've been trying to see Mannequin Pussy for years now, and it just has never quite worked out. This time around they were playing two shows (both sold out quickly) at The Sinclair, and luckily schedules aligned correctly for me. I had high expectations for the show, and somehow they were more than exceeded. This one might have been one of those life altering shows.
Soul Glo opened up the show. If you're unfamiliar with Soul Glo, they're a hardcore punk band that recently played NPR's Tiny Desk. They came out and just killed it right from the start. One of the more interesting parts of their performance was watching the crowd. For the first song, one single guy tried to start a mosh pit, which was completely appropriate given the style of music. He gave up about halfway through that song, but very slowly the crowd got more and more sucked in. It was easy to see why, as Soul Glo are dynamic performers. While they had some fans in attendance, they had to win most of the crowd over. (I say most because hardcore will always be divisive, and people around me were more interested in their phones than the stage for them.) By the end of their set, most of the floor was appropriately moshing.
Mannequin Pussy planned their setlist for the evening perfectly. They started off with their more pop focused songs and got harder and more punk as the night went on. The first song was the ultra quiet and beautiful "I Don't Know You" and instantly had the crowd. From there, Mannequin Pussy just built their momentum slowly and slowly until the audience was in a frenzy. I was surprised at how early "Drunk II" was played in the setlist since I had thought it was their biggest song, but judging on crowd reactions, it wasn't even close. "I Got Heaven" got a massive reaction, and is now one of my favorite songs.
Marisa Dabice is one of the most captivating frontpeople I've ever seen perform. Even when she spoke to the crowd for an extended period of time at just over a whisper, the entire crowd was mesmerized... except for one extremely loud guy at the back bar. But that's how quiet the majority of the crowd was that we could hear someone in the other room.
I can't truly discuss the show without talking about the crowd. The crowd was on the younger side, in that age group that gets a lot of grief for not reacting at live shows and spending the entire time on their phones. For Mannequin Pussy, there was nary a phone in sight. The crowd basked in the joy of seeing live music, moshing, pogoing, and crowdsurfing their hearts out. If you're complaining about going to concerts and everyone watching through their phones, maybe you just need to go see better bands.
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