Pipettes = Fembots; Nicole Atkins = budding superstar

CONCERT REVIEW: The Pipettes/Nicole Atkins
Diesel, Pittsburgh
November 19, 2007

I saw the Pipettes the other night. They came onstage and struck me as the most joyless creatures I'd ever laid eyes on. Up there wearing their polka-dot dresses and singing these happy pop songs, and yet they weren't even cracking a smile. It was as if I was watching three fembots perform. They looked tired and disinterested, as if they were in the middle of a long national tour (which they were).

Fortunately, they loosened up as the show went on and things got a lot more fun, although the audience seemed to enjoy their banter mainly because it was spoken in a cute English accent. I'm not sure how much respect people actually had for their musical abilities. That's something the Pipettes will need to get past if they ever want to be bigger than they currently are...

Nicole Atkins (recent interview subject of mine) opened the show and delivered a terrific set with her band The Sea, closing with a furious, spot-on cover of Patti Smith's "Pissing in a River." She has a great voice, good songs, and an engaging stage presence. I'll be very surprised if she is not huge within a year or two. My favorite moment was the introduction to "Cool Enough," when she said, "This song is about going back to your hometown 10 years later, and realizing that all the people who used to be cool in high school aren't anymore, and you are." I can relate!

I caught up with her after the show and she said she thought I looked like the guy from Grizzly Bear. Compared to the comparisons I usually get, I'll take that...

MP3: Pipettes - ABC (We are the Pipettes) Amazon