The Gossip is kinda like really funky blues disco punk. Does that make sense? And the kids are way spunky. Beth, the lead singer, has one of those big Janis Joplin voices that can wail and be incredibly sexy at the same time. The basslines are new romantic, the drums are fierce. Usually, that's it. Voice, bass, drums. And rip roaring attitude that's groovy even while she's screaming. You know.
The Gossip has a huge gay following. As one of my friends put it on Saturday, "Man, you can't swing a cat without hitting a lesbian in this place." This place was the Echo in Echo Park... Rather, the subterranean hellhole of the Echo, the X-Plex or something. The place has been used before - my only experience with it was usually a dance club type thing - but tonight it was the space where the Gossip was playing. It reminded me of the early kind of rave spaces I used to go to: makeshift bathrooms that were backed up, exposed insulation, temporary plywood walls... Classy. Even if the Gossip aren't such a highbrow band, they deserved better than that.
And the best part about the whole thing was that there was no bar... You had to walk out the back, up a small alley, and into the tiny smoking patio of the Echo which had been converted into the makeshift bar for the evening. And you had to stay there while drinking. It was very, very crowded. And it sucked.
Hopefully those folks will have a bit more construction (and working bathrooms) the next time they try to have a show there. Because, despite the stench, the Gossip rocked it out hard and the kids (even the straight ones) grooved along.
