The Bangles w/Half-Demon Doll at the Fine Line 10.11.11

So last night I finally got to see my childhood favorite band The Bangles at the Fine Line Music Cafe. Opening for the band was a local band named Half Demon Doll which consisted of four young ladies: Sam Stahlman, Hailey Jacobsen, Alyse Emanuel,and Ailie Pikala. Their music is probably best be described as alternative rock. Being someone who has grown up on groundbreaking "alternative rock" like Depeche Mode, The Cure, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Berlin, New Order/Joy Division, etc...etc... , I tend to have a more biased opinion of what should be considered "alternative rock". Opinion aside, the young ladies were quite good. Their music was very melodic with lots of energy. It was a joy watching the girls perform live. I got the impression they were enjoying themselves quite a bit. I liked how 2 of the members Ailie and Alyse switched instruments for 2 of the songs just to mix it up. The band performed oh for a good 30-45 minutes.

The Bangles went onstage about 9:30 last night. Definitely was worth the wait. While I did miss former bassist Michael Steele (Micki), her absence wasn't evident in the trio's lively performance. I have to admit, I really wasn't all that crazy about the band's latest album Sweetheart of the Sun, the songs they performed from that album did sound good live. Of course the band also played a lot of their popular hits like "Manic Monday", "Hazy Shade of Winter", and "If She Knew What She Wants". The band played all of the songs that I was hoping they would play but even better Debbie sang "Some Dreams Can Come True" from my favorite Bangles album Everything. Unlike the Ladytron show I attended last week, I was hellbent on getting up in front of the stage. I got pretty good view of the band (too bad the club is so fucking anal and Nazi-like about people taking photos/videos of bands' performances). I apologize for some of the quality of my photos (I would like to give that credit due to the Fine Line and their archaic rules on picture taking...no flash, only take photos 3 songs into the show. I would like to add that I had some neanderthal bouncer get up my grill when I tried to take a photo during the FIRST song into The Bangles' set and I wasn't using flash, so tempted to tell the a-hole FUCK YOU but I would have probably been shown the down. The a-hole forced me to resort to my camera phone hence a few piss poor photos. Got a dirty look from the a-hole bouncer when I got a shot of Debbie Peterson singing with her acoustic guitar). Where was that ASSHOLE when some goofy guy grabbed my arms (playfully might I add) and threw them into the air while dancing?! It's bad for people to take photos but okay for complete strangers to pester other people in the audience? Oh how I loathe the FL. Despite my run-ins with the bouncer at the not so FINE Line, I had a great time. I liked how the band allowed audience members go on stage during their final song of the night "Walk Like An Egyptian".






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