New York Dolls
March 8, Jillian’s
** 1/2
The New York Dolls and Jillian’s. Sounds about as incongruous as Bob Dylan and Borders, until you stop and think back to the Dolls’ earliest days. Created as much to subvert the music establishment in the pre-punk era as to perform or record, the band found itself scrounging for venues from the start, playing its first live show in a homeless shelter. By comparison, the carnival-themed Jillian’s must have felt like the Caesars Colosseum.
Sadly, modest environs were about the only aspect of Saturday night’s show linking the Dolls to their early ’70s origins. Three-fifths of the group’s classic lineup—guitarist Johnny Thunders, bassist Arthur Kane and second drummer Jerry Nolan—are dead, leaving only singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain onboard for the current reunion. That obviously came as no surprise to the 450 fans who paid $25 each to see the 2008 version, but the concert’s complete lack of spectacle must have, considering the Dolls are infamous for having worn lipstick and drag in the days when rockers simply did not wear lipstick or drag.
The legendarily charismatic Johansen hovered close to his mic stand, gesturing with his hands but offering little else in the way of action. (It wasn’t due to old age; closing in on 60, Johansen appeared healthy and trim, if his exposed washboard stomach was any indication.) Johansen and Sylvain yammered about their love for the crowd, and it sounded canned; they could have been in Cleveland. Sylvain grinned a lot but similarly achieved nothing close to actual drama. Was this really the same band that once performed an American gig in front of a hammer-and-sickle at the height of the Cold War?
Musically too, the Dolls felt uninspiring at the start, sounding like a basic bar band on bland versions of oldies “Babylon” and “Puss ’n’ Boots,” a forgettable cut off their 2006 comeback disc and a dreadful rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” (how about a more obvious cover, guys?). Midway through the set, however, the quintet got it together, sounding more like a gritty Rolling Stones on classic “Pills” and recent catalog additions “Dancing on the Lip of a Volcano” and “Rainbow Store.” By the time they encored with “Personality Crisis” some 90 minutes in, the Dolls even managed to remind us why, along with their role in sparking America’s punk and glam movements, their music endures to this day.