September 17, 2008 Terminal 5, NYC
Probing into new material from Earth to the Dandy Warhols (Beat the World) at Terminal 5 left Courtney (self-proclaimed) Taylor-Taylor no choice but to stop a few bars into the single “Mission Control”. “Sorry, I forgot my glasses,” he sneered. Luckily Taylor-Taylor was always a charmer-charmer. It’s always easy to forgive a minor slip-up when psychedelic Goth pulls you into its vortex. Taylor-Taylor’s vocals took on deep-seated Peter Murphy (Bauhaus) baritone as the crowd was lured over to the dark side of the cosmos and into a trance.
Although keyboardist Zia McCabe kept her shirt on the entire set, the Dandy Warhol’s music (both old and new alike) stayed true to its classic fusion of ‘60s and ‘70s inspired hippie rock. The Dandy’s have come along way since their notorious reputation with The Brian Jonestown Massacre, particularly the 2004 documentary, DIG — a skeleton the band would prefer remain locked in the closet for good. Matured from the earlier heavily drug induced heydays, the Dandy’s are doin’ just fine and dandy thank you very much. Boasting their first release as an independent label and a show packed with electro-charged LED visuals – the band is thrilled about the current tour.
Amidst the lightshow of circuitry illusion and television static that conquered the foreground, a colossal navy flag sporting a gold-lettered Dandy Warhols logo (eagle, pirate ship, VW bus, snow-capped mountains, pine trees and moose) completed the backdrop. The crest was only visible in its full entirety when heavy strobes somehow managed to put it all into focus. Taylor-Taylor busted out the bongos and a vast sea of hands twirled the air in belly dancer fashion underneath the stars cast by an oversized shiny disco ball. Crashing cymbals and thunderous guitar distortion flooded the atmosphere, drowning out any and all sense of normalcy. The pungent smell of grass resonated throughout the three-level labyrinth of a venue. “What —‘Lou Weed’?” Taylor-Taylor asked the audience for requests during the opportune moment. All that was missing was the sitar.
The crowd was as eclectic a mix as the sprawling set list, spawning anywhere from the young and old — to the hip, grunge and Goth. Taylor-Taylor’s vocals ranged as far up as they could down and old favorites were on frequent rotation in the psychedelic shack. “Bohemian Like You” and “Last Junkie on Earth” amongst more obscure tracks like “Horse Pills”, made for the perfect mix of stoner-shoegazer meets rockabilly jam-band. Opening acts were chosen by the Dandy’s themselves. Fellow Portlanders and proud product of the Dandy Warhol’s label, The Upsidedowns were like The Stooges in training, while Darker My Love, hailing from California, displayed a sort of ‘Black Rebel Lumberjack Club’ type imagery. The reverb-heavy evening may have called for earplugs but unlike heroine, simple chorded garage rock is not so passé.
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