Wellington, for shame. Seriously. First show of the year, a band christened ‘Best Live Band in Baltimore’ (okay, so that did sound better in my head), power riffs, a front-woman who rips off Dragonball Z vocal acrobatics instead of conventional singing, and there were what, 60 people there? Hardly the best start to the year in terms of show attendance. However, what was sorely lacking in crowd members was made up for in a pretty killer performance.
‘Singer’ Molly Siegel seems to only know two faces – there is one where her eyes roll into the back of her head as she whips out high-pitched neighing squeals and strangled vowel sounds, almost looking like she’s holding back some netherworldly banshee yell, her spandex-clad frame arching back in total possession. The other is a look of pure ecstasy, ear-to-ear kindergarten grinning while she hops around the stage, prancing and leaping up a storm. It was an infectious look, too – one that was mirrored on the faces of everyone in attendance.
Guitarists Dustin Wong and Ken Seeno essentially look like badass cartoons of themselves. Seeno looks somewhat Jewish, and most certainly gets all Donny Donowitz on his guitaring – the first drop in Beg Waves showcased that savagery for all. Cool shorts too. Wong provided as much visual spectacle as he could, when he wasn’t unleashing metal screams all over Celebrate The Body Electric, he was either waving his arms around in excitement a la excitable kids playing a life-or-death game of seaweed, or matching Seeno in the riffery department. The lack of bass in their sound lends itself well to their psychotic riff battles, as the two guitarists essentially went into all out attack mode, hair flying, faces grinning, then occasionally contorting as they shouted out their wordless lines to the disparate crowd.
You might have noticed the recurring motif of the grin (well, I hope you did, I wasn’t exactly subtle about it). It’s some kind of awesome testament to Ponytail that they can come halfway around the world, play to a crowd of just over 50 people, and play so intensely and, more importantly, positively, and still set the bar for this year’s show ecstatically high. Even when Siegel jumped down to the floor during their finale, something seemed to fall a little flat in the crowd. Not that it was the crowd’s fault itself (although that girl at the front can take a walk of shame please), but the open spaces all over the floor created a pretty loose atmosphere- people were dancing, but it was empty enough to feel a) awkward, and b) like a buzzkill. Despite all of this, Ponytail destroyed their set. I don’t know if they take drugs, but I certainly wouldn’t hold it against them if they do – the energy levels they elicited in the face of laziness from Wellingtonians was phenomenal. I cannot remember a time when I have grinned so much at a show probably possibly ever. SHAME ON YOU, WELLINGTON.
