Karen Ponzio Photo
Thelma and the Sleaze.
“It’s great to be here in New Haven on a … what day is it?” asked L.G., lead singer and guitarist for Thelma and the Sleaze.
“Wednesday!” someone yelled.
The energy and atmosphere at Cafe Nine last night had enough of a party vibe to make anyone forget that it wasn’t already the weekend, as three bands steamrolled through the first true hot and sweaty night of the season.
The show began with Connecticut band Marvelous Liars ripping through a six-song set that barely left them any time to banter, though lead vocalist and guitarist Nicholas Johns said the band was “honored” to be opening for Thelma and the Sleaze, whom they had seen in Providence a couple of years before. The band — which also included Nick Cancelmo on bass and Ben LaRose on drums — delivered rock ‘n’ roll straight up and out with plenty of guitar solos, thunderous beats, and bass lines that you could feel in your bones. They easily switched from two- and three-part harmonies to a singular guttural growl from Johns, paying homage to the classic rock stars and bands of the ‘60s and ‘70s while also keeping it fresh and tight.
Honch, also a Connecticut band, began with vocalist Matt carrying a wrestling belt over his head to the front of the stage while friends and fans came closer and cheered him on. He did not wear the belt, but after some banter with the audience about wrestling, laid it down and launched right into their first song, which saw him travel on and off the stage continuously, getting the now larger crowd in front to dance and throw themselves into him and one another.
“Now we have a lot of people here. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves for missing Marvelous Liars,” he told the audience after the first song, which made the members of that band laugh in response.
Matt entreated the crowd even more. “We’re gonna dance on a goddamn Wednesday night,” he yelled, and they listened, through song after song (including a punk-punctuated cover of Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walking”). The band gave off an Iggy and the Stooges vibe, but not unlike the first band, made music that was fresh and rowdy right now, the perfect ‘let’s bust out of winter and into spring, I’m tired of this crap’ soundtrack. After a slew of hard-hitting songs that kept everyone thrashing as the room got hotter and hotter, Matt announced that “the real fun starts after us.”
Thelma and the Sleaze came up four members strong with a raunchy, rowdy and yes, incredibly fun set that saw the crowd swell even more and offered enough bluesy badass rock ‘n’ roll to make the audience, and the floors, of Cafe Nine shake. There was more dancing, and the floor in front of the stage was packed enough to make it difficult for this reporter to get up near the stage for pictures (but please note I am not complaining). L.G.’s banter between songs was eminently engaging and often downright hilarious.
“I feel at home in New Haven because they have Dollar Generals,” she told the crowd. She talked a few more times about the Dollar General as well as her stolen Tanya Tucker cardboard cutout, Lamborghinis (which she loves and sang a song about), New York City, sex, and a host of other topics. At times it was as raucous as any show I have seen at the Nine, but it also had its sweet moments. When the instruments ceased during one song and L.G. sang a cappella, the crowd became almost completely silent, and then added in hand claps and foot stomps to accompany her before the music came back around again and the dancing resumed.
Thelma and the Sleaze has been touring and will continue to tour into April, playing new songs from the band’s next album, to be released this summer. “I figured let’s just go out and play them rather than wait until the album came out,” L.G. told the crowd. I understood. Why wait for any of it, for the summer or for the weekend for that matter? Rock ‘n’ roll, and those who love it and live it, need to be set free.