Clit-Kicker

Though it was a late show on Sunday, I decided to head to The Dakota for some week-end rock and roll. The head-liner Sate did an early and late set, so I was pleasantly surprised to get a chance to hear them. I have seen Saida Baba Talibah before helping on back-up vocals with other groups, but I wasn't sure what to expect with her new band.

What a shock! It turned out they played heavy, hard rock full of chunky chords, loud drums, and frenetic bass. Whether it was numbers like Try or their radio release Warrior, it was in-your-face music. And no one was doing that more than Talibah. She often jumped onto the stage riser to roar into their crowd with her huge vocals. Even blues song My Babe (Little Walter) got the power treatment. It was quite a sweaty performance but Talibah pointed out that you've got to "grab life by the clit."

Hill (Kourkotis) and The Sky Heroes did the middle set as a duo, with some backing tracks. But since Talibah used to sing with her, it was no surprise that she came back to help out on funky rock tunes: The Moon and Doctor, Doctor. Kourkotis took a 2-year hiatus (which included touring with Serena Ryder) and her new music has become, in her words,  "more dance-pop". So we got new songs like slow-vibe Feel It or the four-on-the-floor The Flame. Ryder was seen in the crowd singing and dancing along to the latter. But it wasn't such a surprising evolution; turn down her wah-wah guitar, turn up the beat and bass and you could draw a line from one to the other.

Two exciting performers made for a great night of music. Unfortunately,  I couldn't stay for Sate's second set. But the rest of the packed crowd didn't seem to be in any hurry to go home.