Today marks the return of live music sags to Wise Madness; for many, this is what Wise Madness is about.
Last night was special because I saw The Rainbow Girls for only the third time and the first time indoors. If you listen to my radio show Gord’s Gold, you’ll know that they are one of my favorite bands. They live in the wilds of Northern California and only rarely make their way to the Big Apple. If you are a New York Area presenter and you love me, and you want to put on one of the best shows you ever hosted, book them. I’ll be your best friend. That does not mean that I’m City Winery’s best friend. The offer is only open to people who love me.
I was told that I could sit where I wanted, At first, I sat up front but then saw that Glenn was at the far end of my row of tables and moved back to sit with him. He was surprised to see anyone he knew. If he listened to Gord’s Gold, he’d have known I love Rainbow Girls and would be there. Don’t you make the same mistake. Notice I wrote “Rainbow Girls” not “The Rainbow Girls.” I have a history of always getting these things wrong so I’m trying to pay more attention to it.
I’d like to say that Rainbow Girls were designed in a lab for me to love, but that’s not quite true. They check off most of the boxes. Their weird, in the good not Trump/Vance sort of way, they write great song, they display amazing musicianship, they have exquisite harmonies, and their song intros do exactly what an intro should do. One of my pet peeves is singers who stand there and explain what the next song is about. If the song doesn’t do that itself, it isn’t a good song; either the intro or the song should be dropped from the set. Rainbow girls intros tell a story about the genesis of the song. They don’t explain the song, but they give you insight. How to Deal was written the day John Prine died. That sets you up to hear how the verses resemble Prine’s lyrics in style and cadence. The chorus in three part harmony does not. We learned how an empathic dog inspired lyrics. We heard about how difficult it is to teach a 6-year old to play drums via zoom. I don’t quite get that part. Bam-Bam was a great drummer before he could talk. Of course, Pebbles could sing even though she couldn’t talk. Things worked differently during the Stone Age. I meant to talk to the band about that after the show but never got around to it. I wanted to know if they’d get the reference, they are a bit younger than I am, if by a bit you mean a bit over half my age. They are so charming and so funny that I’d watch them even if they weren’t amazing singers. I listen to their albums where I don’t get the stage banter. You put those two elements together and you have a band almost perfectly designed for me. Why “almost?” When I rave about a band’s harmonies what I’m usually talking about is the three voices weaving a dance around each other. The notorious RBG don’t usually do that. The voices keep the same distance apart. They make up for it by doing it perfectly. Their voices blend so well and their harmonies so perfect that people ask if they are sisters. Take a look at them. They are clearly not sisters. As they said, “We come from three separate vaginas.”
What makes people accept the evidence of their ears over that of their eyes? They have the connection usually only found in familial harmony. They aren’t family but they are more familiar with each other than other bands. They live on the same property. Caitlin and Erin have platonically lived together for 15 years. These are young women, a huge chunk of their lives. That allows them to harmonically go places most groups can’t. They are the Marx Brothers of music despite not being brothers or even sisters. Is there a Zeppo somewhere who left the band early on? Maybe even a Gummo? Because they all live together in California like hippies, they always make me think of the Monkees, except they are real, not acting. If you are a TV executive get on making a TV series about them. I’d do it mockumentary style. Scripted might work. I’d love to see them go on zany adventures, perhaps searching for buried treasure.
They can write about politics in a way that doesn’t make me want to gag. Look at the lyrics to Compassion to the Nth Degree.
I love you like I love white supremacists
And people who still steal from small businesses
I love you like the bully who made fun of me
And made me doubt my worth and capability
I love you like the people paid to rip me off
Like HughesNet, malware, and used car dealerships
I love you like big oil lobbyists
Fox News, Weinstein, and those who look the other way
Please don’t look the other way
I love you like airport security
The harsh words, cattle call, and lotions in a landfill
I love you like I love Brett Kavanaugh
A smile faked for comfort’s sake, I love you to infinity
I love you to infinity
I love you to infinity
I love you to infinity
That’s beautiful songwriting that is not, “Look how great I am for loving and hating the right things.” As a bonus it ends with quoting Tony Stark in Avengers Endgame. They said it was safe to sing that because they were in New York. A couple of things. First off, Trump is from New York, he grew up in walking distance from my childhood home. Secondly, they are still safe because as Christine Lavin said, “Republicans don’t go to hear folk music, too many big words.” I know some Republican folk music fans, and even Republican folk singers, but it’s a good first order approximation.
As this was only my third time seeing them and the first close up and indoors, I noticed how they looked. Look at the picture with the upright bass. Erin on the left looks like she belongs in the Bangles. Caitlin in the middle totally fits in with the Runaways. With the beehive you might think that Vanessa belongs in the Ronettes, but I can’t see past the bass, to me she’s in Lake Street Dive.
After the show I talked a little with Vanessa and more with Caitlin. Sadly, I never got to introduce myself to Erin or to catch up with their manager Hannah, my email contact with the band. As I’ve apparently never learned about boundaries, I told Caitlin my evil scheme for their next album, based on their evil scheme for their next album. Caitlin not only approved, she encouraged me. Now I just have to rope in my friend who has the skills needed to accomplish it.
I finally thought of recording a video at the last song, Down Home Girl. The part where the picture jumps and goes out of focus is because somebody walked right in front of me, and I had to hold the camera up over my head for a few seconds.
Wise Madness 