Concert Review: Perfect Pussy, December 8, Smiling Buddha

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On their current tour, Syracuse hardcore/noise rock band Perfect Pussy has been previewing a few new songs from their upcoming release, which singer Meredith Graves mentioned was making her a bit nervous. Of course she had nothing to worry about as the new songs sounded great. Of the newer material, “Joy” in particular stood out – it was not only a memorable number, but an apt description of the general vibe of the show – the all ages crowd was enjoying themselves (there was some moshing) and so was the band. As her bandmates thrashed away, Graves was a commanding presence onstage, gesturing dramatically and throwing herself about the stage as she sang with full intensity. For good measure, and as a nod to Toronto, she even slipped a few lines of “Hotline Bling” into the beginning of one of their songs.

Before they got to those new songs though, and shortly after the start of their set, Graves made an announcement. “If anyone has a guitar, start getting it ready now because we’re going to play about three more songs before we need one.” Openers Casper Skulls were kind enough to oblige them and everything went pretty smoothly, but it was interesting that they seemed to actually anticipate their gear failing on them. Having seen Perfect Pussy a couple of times before, it seems that mishaps and malfunctions might not be uncommon. Mind you, I’d previously only seen them do showcases at festivals like SXSW and NXNE, shows where things often don’t go smoothly and stuff like proper soundchecks are not necessarily going to happen, so it might not be fair for me to judge them based on that. Regardless, I’ve always fully enjoyed their shows and I’m happy to say that this was easily the best set I’ve seen them play (Best sounding too – kudos to whoever was doing sound at Smiling Buddha for a job well done).

Posted on by Paul in Concerts