The Veronicas
Identical twins Lisa and Jess Origliasso made a two-for-one splash in the industrially grimey Sauget as they performed for a small hoard of screaming teens and tweens. As the shimmery, doe-eyed duo shimmied and bopped across the stage to the opening track, “Untouched”, ear-slicing squeals shook the air. Hot-pink-and-glitter-clad bodies jumped and flailed bangled arms in the air.
The exquisite and funky Aussie fashionistas took turns shaking their petite booties and strutting from one end of the stage to the other, shaking outstretched fan hands, singing to the lead guitarist or bassist, and rocking out with each other. Between songs, they thanked the squealing audience with thick Australian accents, claiming that they were having “so much fun.”
In spite of Jess’s recent blonde makeover, the twins’ sugary, buzzing vocals were indistinguishable from one another. Swapping vocal parts like raiding each others’ closets, the two shared the spotlight with equal relish. While one twin sang into the microphone, the other sang her heart out along with her sister.
During their cover of the mid-90s Tracy Bonham rock hit, “Mother Mother,” the leather-jacket-swathed Lisa took the lead vocal, while the spandex-wrapped Jess screeched, “Everything’s fine!” For the unreleased (in the U.S.), “Everything,” Jess picked up her guitar for a bit of snapping pop rock, joined in adorable vocal harmony by her twin. Each track pumped with enough alt-chick-punk-rocker passion to embody a modern day Joan Jett, doubled and intensified.
The band’s most recent hit, “Take Me on the Floor,” with its electro-rock synth serenade, roused more squeals. Drummer Vik Foxx hammered the beats with true rock showmanship: stick spins, tosses, and hairy head banging. New bassist, Sherman, commanded the synth and the bassline with charmed enthusiasm uncharacteristic of the typically solid, stoic bass player role. Guitarist Jungle George, with his emo kid hair, sizzled the strings for some blazing lead solos.
Lyrics like “I wanna kiss a girl/I wanna kiss a boy,” may have been a little too suggestive for some of the younger audience members, hanging on balcony railings with tolerant adults chilling out in the background. But some of the lyrics, like in “Revenge is Sweeter Than You Ever Were,” or “Everything I’m Not,” spoke directly to the angsty teen heart and sought to lift it up from the dregs. As the twins belted out songs about not changing for anyone, they embodied the self esteem-boosting paradigm, and you could believe them, whether you were 8, 18 or 80.
“Acousterizing,” as Jess put it, the two picked the heart-breakers, “This Love,” and “Heavily Breaking.” Both songs showcased Lisa and Jess’s strong, yet sweet vocal stylings, but lyrically neither track was particularly profound. Girls, you’re great, but stick to the plugged version of yourselves next time.
The encore performance went out with a bang with the emotionally vindictive “This is How it Feels.” Swallowing down such bitter emotion requires the right amount of honey, which The Veronica’s have in spades. Accept no substitutes. Like rock n roll, girl power is here to stay.
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by Solange Deschatres
1 comments:
yeah, great little songwriters those two
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