live @ 930 Club 9.4.2000
Bangles fans! Don’t thank VH1, thank Austin Powers. Though a popular “Behind the Music” show on the California quartet has raised their profile recently, it was when the gals got together to record a song (“Get the Girl”) for the second “Powers” movie (singer/guitarist Susanna Hoffs is married to “Powers” director Jay Roach) that the reunion seeds were sown. A few gigs and the TV special later and presto! the Bangles appeared at the 930 Club Saturday night looking like it was still 1985 and playing new songs intended for a new disc to be recorded later this year.
Best known for two unfortunate musical incidents (“Walk Like An Egyptian” and “Manic Monday”) The Bangles actually emerged from Los Angeles’ “Paisley Underground” in the early 1980’s, and as was clear Saturday, they are best when sticking to that scene’s late 60’s obsessions. Hoffs and guitarist Vicki Peterson always excelled at interpreting the material of other writers and nearly all of the show’s highlights were covers: Paul Simon’s “Hazy Shade of Winter”, Jules Shear’s “If She Knew What She Wants”, buoyed by a rush of harmony vocals, as was Alex Chilton’s “September Gurls” and Kimberly Rew’s “Going Down to Liverpool”. “Egyptian” and “Monday” both drew howling audience approval, the later merging into a few choruses of the Velvet Underground’s “I’m Waiting For the Man” that, although brief, surely caused VU-cohort Andy Warhol to at least consider turning over in his grave.
The group’s new songs were mostly undistinguished pop rockers, though bassist Michael Steele’s “Between the Two” rippled pleasantly. Better was a gentle take on We Five’s “You Were On My Mind” and a version of one of their two best originals “Hero Takes A Fall” (the other, Vicki’s “James”, was unfortunately omitted).
The two encores the band played neatly summarized the pros and cons of a Bangles comeback: when they tackle a 60’s nugget like Love’s “7 And 7 Is” they were great; when they played a syrupy original like “Eternal Flame” they were icky. The sizeable crowd, however, loved them both, and that may mean that the Bangles are gonna be sticking around for awhile.
Washington Post, September 2000
