Call it the Women’s March Unofficial After Party.
On Saturday hundreds of thousands of people protested across North America, including in Milwaukee, demanding gender equality.
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More than 1,500 turned out in Milwaukee for the march on Saturday.
Saturday night, the anger and defiance that swept across city streets was bottled up at a powderkeg Bully concert at a sold-out Anodyne Coffee Roasting Company. (It was the first of two Milwaukee Bully shows this month; the second, Jan. 28 at Cactus Club, is sold out.)
The Nashville grunge band led by Alicia Bognanno often isn't explicitly political, but the songs, like Saturday's marches, centered around a woman demanding, and deserving, to be heard.
"I'll admit it, I get anxious too," she shouted Saturday during "Running," confronting a significant other who can't comprehend her feelings. But on "Trying," she struggles to understand her feelings herself ("I question everything/My focus, my figure, my sexuality").
During "Blame," Bognanno admits self-doubt, manipulated by another into thinking she's become a "(expletive) who can't blink." During "Six," though, she found her confidence: "(Expletive) those jerks that only hate you/They don't know you're great."
Saturday's show frequently flowed from vulnerability to ferociousness, from a gentle simmer to raging boil. In the vein of her '90s grunge idols — Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love came to mind — Bognanno sang with soft, aching angst that swelled to vein-popping screams. Flashes of snarling teeth peeked out from a whipping mess of blond hair that frequently concealed her face.
The rest of Bully — Clayton Parker on lead guitar, Reece Lazarus on bass, Stewart Copeland on drums — consistently picked up the tempo, the band burning through 19 songs in an hour. But justifiably, they largely let Bognanno command the stage.
The tension finally snapped at the show's end, when Bognanno put down her guitar and screamed to the point of near exhaustion for a scorching cover of hardcore band Mcclusky's "Lightsabre (Expletive) Blues."
But Saturday's emotional highlight came a few minutes prior during "Hate and Control," from Bully's 2017 sophomore album "Losing," which tapped into the current sociopolitical climate more directly than any of the evening's other songs.
"I know everyone's shaken up/I guess the power lies in hate," Bognanno sang. "Have I lost my voice completely? Was it ever really there?"
A moment later, Bognanno found her voice and exhibited her own power.
"What is it about me that makes you so uncomfortable," she sang. "You don't like it when I'm angry? Tough (expletive), learn to deal."
Hours earlier, Bognanno took to Twitter to reflect on last year's Women's March, which she called "easily one of the best day's of my life." She had to miss out on demonstrations this year, spending the day in the van to Milwaukee.
So Saturday's show, and that song in particular, served as Bognanno's own powerful make-up women's march — with a club full of people rocking in solidarity.
THE TAKEAWAYS
- Even at her own show, Bognanno had to deal with an inconsiderate jerk. During a quiet part of "Blame," a guy by the bar started stomping the floor with his foot as loud as he could, out of sync with the song's slow tempo. Maybe he wasn't intentionally trolling the band, but Bognanno rightly took offense, yelling "rude" and giving him a death stare.
- Sundial Mottos, a new local group co-fronted by Graham Hunt (Midnight Reruns) and Alicia Rodriguez (Apollo Vermouth), opened Saturday with a 30-minute set. Their joint vocals were a bit flat, but the band's sound was expansive and absorbing, a fine middle-ground between Vermouth's ambiance and Reruns' Replacements-esque power pop. And guest Ian Olvera's wide-eyed slide guitar for this show was a nice touch.
THE SET LIST
1. "Feel The Same"
2. "Guess There"
3. "Brainfreeze"
4. "Too Tough"
5. "Either Way"
6. "Seeing It"
7. "I Remember"
8. "Focused"
9. "Spiral"
10. "Running"
11. "Blame"
12. "Six"
13. "Trash"
14. "Not The Way"
15. "Milkman"
16. "Kills To Be Resistant"
17. "Hate and Control"
Encore
18. "Trying"
19. "Lightsabre (Expletive) Blues" (Mclusky cover)
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