Venue: Phoenix Public House, Brunswick
Date: 1 March 2012
JD Samson is probably best known, so far, as a member of the feminist electro-punk band Le Tigre, which she joined in 2000. She is also the co-founder of Dykes Can Dance (a conceptual dance/performance art group). She’s a member of the New England Roses; a member of Peaches’ backup band; she’s also a producer, and her latest project, now known as JD Samson + MEN has been a hot topic around Melbourne in the lead up to her latest tour.
I interviewed JD Samson on Wednesday last week (29 Feb), the day before she was to perform at the Phoenix in Melbourne. When I asked her what we could expect from her upcoming show, she said “a well thought out performance of music and a high energy show”. She certainly delivered what she promised, with a set full of punchy beats, rockin’ electric guitar and catchy synth riffs. Of course, there were also the politically charged lyrics about money, credit card babies and sexual identity, coupled with interesting costumes and a self-made backdrop with one word sprawled across it in big letters – MEN. A difficult genre to pin-down, but I’ve heard it aptly described as “Dance music for thinkers”. Nice.
JD and Michael O’Neill now comprise the core of MEN, with Johanna Fateman and artist Emily Roysdon contributing as writers, consultants, and producers. The band enjoys changing the shape of the project and collaborating every tour with new instrumentalists and visual elements. To make things more interesting, they’ve also sacked their management and are doing it all on their own!
On stage, JD is extremely charming and engaging, providing some chat in-between songs that you felt was personally directed to you and you only. She continuously asked how we were doing, if the music was too loud or too soft and if we were enjoying ourselves etc etc. So polite and considerate, but would then launch into a song with lyrics like “I’m gunna fuck my best” or “Make him pay, make him pay”. A girl with integrity and humility but also a girl with attitude and grit.
In two of the songs, two trumpeters, who I assumed had been found randomly out the front of the local Conservatorium and roped in at the last-minute, awkwardly approached the stage. With their scrappy pieces of manuscript before them, they quietly whistled out a few long notes on their horns but really, contributed little to the overall musical experience of the show. I’m not really sure why they were there but never-the-less, JD acknowledged and thanked them, and the crowd cheered their little cameo role.
As JD promised, it was a high-energy, entertaining yet thought-provoking show. I give it 4 out of 5 kisses.