The Donnas, Mr. T Experience, Pansy Division, Ann Beretta Middle East, Cambridge, MA 9/17/99

Lookout! wisely decided that if they were going to send a bunch of their bands to the CMJ festival in NYC, they might as well send them around for a few dates in neighboring markets as well. Boston got lucky, so I made one of my few yearly trips to the big city to see my favorite all-girl punk band, the Donnas.

Things seem to be good for the Donnas these days, in fact all the bands playing had a new CD to push, but the Donnas are also featured on the "Detroit Rock City" movie soundtrack as well as the "Driving Me Crazy" movie soundtrack. Their cover of the Kiss song "Strutter" is pretty good. The "Driving Me Crazy" soundtrack isn't out yet. I read that the Donnas do "Keep on Loving You." Yep the Journey song. When I asked them about it they had no comment. I guess some moron remixed it really cheesy or something. Don't worry though, the Donnas still fucking rock and they did a great set this time around.

The Donnas

Ann Beretta

The night started off with Ann Beretta. They're a three-piece that does some old school punk. Their lead singer and guitar player Rob kept people jumping about with some good licks and some '77 style lyrics. They also did a bunch of songs from their new CD (out soon), like the cool "Eye for an Eye." I hadn't seen these guys before, and they were pretty good. I'm gonna get their CD when it comes out, so I'll get back to you on them. Next up was the awesome Pansy Division. I may be a hetero, married, corporate lackey, but the gay pop songs Pansy Division do really make me smile.

In concert Pansy Division is great. They tell jokes, wave to friends, and take requests. Their songs are about being a bad boyfriend, dating guys with hockey hair, and metal toy boys; who apparently rule. They sing gay pop like it should be, no attitude, no preaching, just boy meets boy, and boy misses boy. I really like "Dick of Death," "You're Going to Need your Friends," and "Groovy Underwear." Their Bass player, Chris seemed to be in a particularly good mood. He changed into a lovely silver lame' dress that made him into a six-foot plus disco ball.

Pansy Division

Dr. Frank and Mr. T Experience had no trouble following Pansy Division's fun time set. Mr. T Experience has been around for so long they could open up for anybody. There have been some member changes, and they've added a keyboard player. I'm not sure if its still Joel and Jym on bass and drums respectively, but Dr. Frank is still the man. They did a bunch of tunes prefaced with "This is a song about a girl," which in each case was true. The song about Hitler's girlfriend was great. Mr. T Experience have a brand new CD out that's worthwhile. They did some songs from it including, "We're not No One," and "She's My Alcatraz," that were rocking.

The Donnas

The Donnas set their stuff up and in 45 minutes ripped through 15 songs. It's one of the great things about the Donnas live set, they don't mess around, and they come to play. They did "Skintight," "Get You Alone," "Hyperactive," "Hook it Up," and "Doin' Donuts," from their new CD, "Get Skintight." They also did a smattering of songs from the first CD, "American Teenage Rock and Roll Machine," including the title track, and "Shake in the Action," and "You Make Me Hot." They also did "Get Rid of That Girl," which seriously rocks. It's about kicking some girl's ass, duh. The song is on a Lookout! sampler you should go get.

Between songs Donna A. and Donna F. threw out some free stuff, showed some art work they had been given, and inquired about the number of blue ballz cases in the audience. Donna C. thrashed her way through each song, singing along and pointing her sticks to Donna R for her nicely honed solos. The Donnas keep getting better and better, so you'd better watch out for them. Personally I'm praying that they take over MTV from the likes of Brittany Spears and that chick with the nice ass. I got some nice promo shots of the Donnas, Pansy Division and Ann Beretta, so check them out on the "Shameless Promotion Page." I also got their set list from the stage, check out the next print edition and see if I decide to throw it in.

The Donnas