Walking into a half-filled Fillmore, I was a bit unsure of what to expect to say the least. I have always been a huge fan of the New York Dolls, but when a band is touring 35 years after their heyday, and only 2 of the 5 founding members are still alive, wouldn't you be a bit dubious? Although I had heard nothing but good things about the current incarnation of the band, as well as this tour, I just couldn't convince myself that the Dolls could still entertain, or more importantly, still sound good. Luckily I have been wrong on more than a few occasions, tonight being one of them.
As they strolled out onto the stage with a grin from ear to ear, and then immediately launching into "Babylon," the New York Dolls showed the now packed Fillmore that they still have a bit of life left in them. By the time they finished "Puss 'n Boots,” which was only the second song of their set, founders David Johansen and Syl Sylvain, along with bassist Sam Yaffa (who has played with Hanoi Rocks, S.F. glam band Jetboy, and Johnny Thunders himself), guitarist Steve Conte and drummer Brian Delaney had already exerted more energy than bands half their age do in an entire night. After a rocking version of "We're All In Luv," they finally slowed down for a cover of Janis Joplin's "Piece Of My Heart," which might have been one of the only "clunker" of the night as far as I'm concerned (not including the opening band’s entire set).
Perhaps the best moment of the show for me came when Sylvain paid tribute to one-time Dolls guitarist Johnny Thunders with a pretty touching acoustic version of Thunders "You Can't Put Your Arm Around A Memory." Very nice, and from where I was standing it looked as though he was about to shed a tear or two.
Although newer Dolls songs such as "Rainbow Store," "Punishing World" and "Dance Like a Monkey" didn't quite rock the house like "Trash," "Looking For A Kiss" and "Private World," they still sounded good live, and it almost felt like they put just a bit more energy into them. I really dug "Fishnets and Cigarettes," and tonight it sounded like it fit right in with the old classics.
After closing the set with a pretty rocking "Jetboy," with Johansen throwing out flowers to the crowd, and some pretty nice guitar work by both Slyvain and Conte, the Dolls returned to the stage for "Personality Crisis" which—although it came as a surprise to no one—had the crowd finally moving around a bit. Johansen was moving around a bit himself, and shimmied and shaked so much that I though he was going to loose his fake bulge [-ed. The day of this post we got a note from the Dolls confirming the actual size of David's package: "Hey, tell Raymond Ahner that David's tightly packed bulge is real just like the music!"]. There was no way his extra tight pants were going to be falling off however. "Gotta Get Away From Tommy" closed the show.
All in all, I'd have to say I was pretty impressed by the New York Dolls. They looked good and they sounded good, and although they really don't offer anything new these days, they still know how to entertain, and sometimes that's all I need.
More on New York Dolls here: www.nydolls.org and www.myspace.com/newyorkdolls
