Mannequin Pussy
LIVE @ Sinclair, Cambridge, MA
10-27-21
One of the joys of being an avid music listener is getting absolutely blindsided by a band you’ve never heard before. I try never to pay too much attention when listening to new music, which is a perfect way to let an album kick your ass out of nowhere. That was the case in 2019 withy Mannequin Pussy’s Patience. It turns out I had actually heard of them before, having seen them play the Chris Gethard show a few years back, but as great of a show as that was, and as impeccably as their musical guests were curated, their format of airing the first 30 seconds of a musical performance was a huge letdown. So Mannequin Pussy came and went, unnoticed, until recently. They’ve been on my personal playlist ever since.
It only takes a few listens to get why Patience and their follow-up EP Perfect is so great. It’s all sorts of stuff rolled into one. It’s dark, peppy, funny, honest, heavy, brutal, solemn, angry, sweet, and smart all at the same time. And it sounds fucking great, partly due to band’s musicianship, and to producer Will Yip. With a band getting so much buzz, and back on the road after the COVID malarky, a show at the Sinclair seems like a perfect way to break these blues.
The Sinclair knows how to turn out a good crowd, who is both enthusiastic and in tune to what’s going on onstage, and on the younger side. This show had been sold out for months and the anticipation has definitely been building up to this show. Wasting no time, Mannequin Pussy took the stage at 10:50 and wailed at their 19 song set in just about an hour. I was expecting a formidable performance and a well oiled machine, and the band played remarkably well for being on borrowed equipment. But I have to first give it up to Kaleen Reading and Colins Regisford for being the wildest and most in-sync rhythm section in music right now. It truly takes a live performance to appreciate the complexity of their work and how their chemistry lays the perfect foundation for explosive singer/guitarist Marisa Dabice. With such buzz, it’s no surprise that they played the entire Patience album (almost?) and still managed to include several of their older songs as well as some choice cuts off the new EP. The band got on stage, gave it their all, blew some faces off, and we owe them for it.
It’s hard to say what’s next for Mannequin Pussy as a band. Is this some sort of peak, or have they just started finding themselves as a band? Who knows? Magic like this doesn’t come very often and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll go experience it while it still lasts.
Finally, as many people already know, the band’s entire equipment was stolen recently at a show in Ohio. Please support the band now more than ever and be on the look out for their gear, which we’re all hoping will reunite with the band.
