The Distillers - Manchester Academy 2 - 12.11.03Attitude it goes a long way. In Brody Dalle's case it's served a whole career. "Married to Tim Armstrong. Cheated on him with Josh from QOTSA. Divorced Armstrong. Returned to her name of Brody Dalle. The Distillers become the biggest thing in rock since Hole and Brody is called the new Courtney Love. The whole rock scene turns against them (bar QOTSA and Foo Fighters) as they are called sell outs for signing to a major" - It's the short and sweet synopsis that the media have been filling you for the past 6 months and boy am I f**king sick of it. Change the record for once and find a new angle.
As soon as Brody walks out on to stage were greeted with a true icon. The smeared red lipstick. The distant eyes. Don't give a f*ck attitude. This ain't just some feminist real women styled posturing from Pink or her ilk. Earning her due on the underground scene she spent years fighting against the fact that 95% of the bands the Distillers were playing with were male and Brody has simply taken their sneers and thrown it back at them 10 fold. "Drain The Blood", provides an instant rush to the head and is easily the most commercial song on "Coral Fang", but with just a 45 minute set it doesn't feel like an eternity waiting for the ultimate high. Each song shrowded in lyrical veils and in their live setting nothing is given away. The sneer says enough. No questions need asking. The fact that grand total of communication is "Hello Manchester" and "This is our last song" and various mutterings in-between isn't so much frowned upon as universally panned, but the messages are clear in the song and if you want banter go and see the Electric Six. The last 12 months of Brody Dalle's have been extremes between the best and worst times of her life and everything she has to say is in the likes of "Die On A Rope", "Hall Of Mirrors" and "Beat Your Heart Out", you just have to decipher them first.
As we're walking out mutterings are heard about from fans about how after tonight's show they're turning their backs on the Distillers. "45 minutes and she doesn't even talk" - perhaps guys you ought to have done some research and realized that despite the fact that "Coral Fang" has tunes by the bucketload they are and always will be a punk band at heart.
Alex McCann
Photo's by Karen McBride - www.karenmcbride.com
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