Back in 1997, I had just moved to Vegas and was reading an article about an all-female punk band. They were 17 years old, played three-chord anthems, and all had the same name (a la The Ramones). I bought their self-titled debut, and immediately fell in love with The Donnas.
After waiting ten years to see them, they finally came through SLC last night, playing at The Avalon Theatre. I'd never been there before, but it was bursting with old-school coolness. The first opener was American Bang who played a blend of southern blues and garage rock. They were decent, but went downhill when they kept mentioning their song being featured in a Verizon commercial.
The second opener was Donita Sparks over whom I was very excited because she was a member of L7, an all-girl grunge band in the 90s. Her band was The Stellar Moments, which included Dee Plakas (also from L7) on the drums. I was hoping they'd play some L7 classics, but they stuck to their original material. But after a few songs, I didn't care. Donita was a great performer with tons of energy, and the songs were fun and upbeat without getting too poppy.
I was thrilled when the Donnas finally came out and launched into "Bitchin'," the title track off their new album. At first, I kept my eye on Torry (Donna C), the drummer, on whom I've always had a little crush. She pounds the drums with such ferocity, and makes it look like so much fun. But after a few songs, I began to notice Allison (Donna R), the guitarist. That girl could seriously wail, and almost put Angus Young (of AC/DC) to shame. And the way her hair flew all over made me a little weak in the knees.
Their two hour set consisted of songs off all seven of their albums. It's great to see how they've evolved from a garage-punk band to a full-fledged rock-n-roll outfit. Whenever they play a song, you can almost tell what album it's from, just by how it sounds. But the attitude is still the same, especially in songs like "Huff All Night," "Skintight," and "40 Boys in 40 Nights." The crowd was very diverse, jumping and clapping to every song. At the end of the night, they returned for a two-song encore. The first was a balls-on cover of RATT's 1984 hit, "Round and Round." But before their final song, singer Brett (Donna A) thanked us all for coming and said, "This is our last song, and I'm going to dedicate it to........YOU!" And she pointed RIGHT. AT. ME!!! I was elated and started jumping and screaming and making the rock-n-roll sign as the Donnas sang "Take It Off," one of my favourites.
The show was so much fun, and I could tell the band was having fun, which made it even more fun for me. And I totally rocked out in my truck all the way home. I can't wait to see these girls again.
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