Brody Dalle
Manchester Academy 2
22.04.2014
Eighteen year old Claire would be beside herself with excitement at the prospect of this show. Twenty-eight year old Claire was pretty damn excited too. I absolutely loved The Distillers back in the day and it’s actually been ten years since Coral Fang came out and since I last saw The Distillers (I know this isn’t technically a Distillers show… but really… come on; it totally is).
Last time I saw Brody playing with The Distillers (in the same venue); I thought the show was a bit dull. It was the Coral Fang tour and I’m 100% sure that the record has never been close to being described as dull so maybe it was an off night or maybe because the band were on the verge of splitting up, they just weren’t feeling it back then. It was a shame because Coral Fang was absolutely their best album.
This tour was always going to be different. For one thing, it’s not a Distillers tour. Brody Dalle’s decision to go solo might have been her best one yet. I wasn’t sure the show would be very busy as I didn’t know anyone else who was going but when I got there, the venue was really busy and I heard people saying things like “I’ve waited ten years to see her”. People were excited. I was excited.
I don’t know if it’s got anything to do with the fact that she pretty much wrote all of the music on the new album, or if it’s because she’s been away for so long but she seemed really confident and self-assured. She was completely different to that first time I saw her play with The Distillers when she seemed almost scared of letting go. Perhaps it’s motherhood that’s boosted her confidence? It’s definitely an aspect of her life that she’s brought to her music and surprisingly, it really works.
The depth of Brody’s vocals is pretty impressive. She can go from angry, chainsaw-like punk rock growling to a sweet, introspective anxiety in seconds. The first single taken from her solo album (Diploid Love) is Meet the Foetus (Oh The Joy), was great to hear live and a perfect showcase of that… I loved it. It showed the change in her from angry Distiller to Brody Dalle. She’s a performer and an artist in her own right now and she’s happy. Perhaps she’s relieved that she can be herself. She doesn’t feel the need to live up to the old image anymore.
Saying that, I absolutely loved hearing The Distillers songs which transported me right back to my teens. The highlights were I Am a Revenant, Sick of it All, Dismantle Me and Coral Fang. I loved all of the Distillers albums but each one got better and their last one Coral Fang was their best and most mature lyric and music-wise and they had Brody written all over them. It seems like Diploid Love is an extension and a progression of that and I can’t wait for it to come out. I wish I could go to another show right now.
Claire
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