The Lovemakers
Cafe du Nord - Jan 17, 2008
review by anna2913

Sparks flew as The Lovemakers took the stage for the second of four Thursdays in a row at Cafe du Nord. On the strength of their electrifying performance last Thursday, I convinced a bunch of friends to join me, knowing I could promise them a rocking good time.

The Lovemakers delivered, putting on a sizzling hot performance that feels like a dark comedy you can dance to. Their second week on home turf, they were even more comfortable mixing it up, trading quick barbs and playing off each other. While still shaking things up with melodic, neo-wave disco punk pop faves from their album "Times of Romance," they also ventured into stormier rock territory, got fiercer with "Misery Loves Company" and even mesmerized the audience with a slower, blissfully epic "Save Me." With their newer songs, they seem to be working hard - successfully - to broaden their sound and break more genre boundaries.

Lisa Light has the perfect face for stage, beautiful silent film star meets angry punk rocker chick, with intense eyes glittering like gems, and a clear, expressive voice to match. Scott Blonde comes off as the more introverted of the two onstage, while equally fascinating - bare from neck to hipbone, but singing (with impressive range and style) and rocking wildly from behind a veil of his unruly locks.

Vocally quite different, they are a perfect melange together, passing lead vocals back and forth, intertwining them in rapid-fire musical repartee or in shivery, delicious harmony. Their unified display of energy is matched and propelled by drummer Michael Urbano, who fills out the live shows with a noisy but sharp and complex rhythm.

With each of them bringing something different to the show, it was amazing to see how well they complimented each other. Remarkably, neither one overshadows the other. He is an anchor of talent, melting the frets with a solid wall of swirling sound. She is full of drama and surprises, including trading her bass guitar for an electric violin on a couple of occasions, and emptying a bottle of water on her head during the delightfully campy, crowd-pleasing number "Shake That Ass."

The audience had nothing but love for them, shouting their approval between songs, cheering the opening chords of their favorite numbers, and drawing them out for an extended encore. It was another great show, and I highly recommend taking the opportunity to see them when they return to du Nord on Jan 24th and 31st.

posted Jan 19, 2008
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