The AvengersTuesday May 22 brought San Francisco punk band The Avengers back to Seattle. The Avengers is another band I want to throw in the faces of those who say women can’t rock. The vocals of Penelope Houston defy that mentality. Her voice is crystal clear, yet sharp as a razor and sung from the gut. When she belts out the songs, she slices the air with her vocals, but then smiles like an angel a second later. One of the first songs The Avengers played was “We Are the One,” which Houston bellowed out with passion and intensity. This was followed shortly after by a song about being a teenage rebel. Though the band members are mostly in their fifties now, there’s something very apt about them singing and playing a song about being a rebellious teen. Not only does Houston defy her age (she looks much younger), anyone who can move and sing punk rock like she does, is justified. Any of us still listening to punk past our twenties can still qualify as a rebel.
Avengers bassist, Joel Reader, also played guitar for opening band Pansy Division. He has to be one of the most energetic bass players ever as was evidenced by his jumping all over the stage, dashing to the mic to do harmony, or making a beeline to share the mic with Houston as they sang duos. Meanwhile, guitarist and founding member Greg Ingraham held steady with his raging guitar chords. Luis Illades (also drummer for Pansy Division) pounded away on the skins with ferocious abandon, his hair often falling into his face.
The highlight had to be their performing their semi-famous cover of the Stones’ “Paint It Black.” Houston’s vocals are perfect for covering this song. Of all the covers of “Paint It Black” out there, theirs is one of the best.
The AvengersAfter an hour plus show, they left the stage only briefly before returning for an encore of about four songs. Included in those four songs was a stunning cover of “Money.” The one covered by the likes of The Beatles and The Flying Lizards. That is, the Barrett Strong one, not the Pink Floyd song. Their entire show lasted a little more than an hour and I am so glad I got to see The Avengers perform an entire show on their own. Last time I saw them was as part of Soundfest and their set, being part of a several band festival, was much too short.
The décor at the Funhouse makes me think the staff feels every day is Halloween. There were ghastly ghouls hanging from the ceiling and skulls and skeletons hanging off the walls. Above the bar hung a ghoulish looking baby doll and over by the pinball machines hung several shrunken heads.
Pansy DivisionPreceding the Avengers (I missed the first act) was another San Francisco band called Pansy Division. I’m sorry I haven’t discovered these guys sooner. They’re a riot! Formed in 1991 because they felt there wasn’t enough representation of gays in rock music, they sang songs about being gay, being in gay relationships, and sometimes raunchy sexual escapades. It’s all done very tongue in cheek. Bassist Chris Freeman is so tall I had to do a double take to make sure he wasn’t wearing stilts. The words, “At Least I’m Not A Christian” are printed prominently on his bass.
Pansy Division’s songs are quirky and poppy with a dash of punk attitude. Early on they played a song called “Bunny Ears” and the band members took turns giving themselves bunny ears as they sang. Their music and songs reminded me a lot of The Young Fresh Fellows and even a bit like The Monkees, although their lyrics would be a considered too raunchy for The Monkees. Singer/guitarist Jon Ginoli kept the show at maximum whacky with lyrics like “James Bondage, you have me tied up tight,” or a song called “No Protection” with lyrics saying, “No protection, no, no, no. I won’t screw without protection.” Another song included the words, “He whipped my ass in tennis so I whipped his ass in bed.” At one point Freeman left the stage only to return wearing a very short, black dress complete with spaghetti straps and sequins. His mannerisms exuded stereotypical gay, but this band is quite obviously a parody. He constantly competed with Ginoli in the being most whacky and succeeded when he grabbed a Bible, ripped out the pages and tossed them into the audience. Not to be outdone, Ginoli grabbed the remnants and tore out more pages, letting them fall to the stage floor. This is just one example of how fun these guys were. They are not squeamish about making fun of themselves or gay stereotypes. They even paid homage to disco and gave a shout out RIP to Donna Summer. They finished the disco song with synchronized pogoing.
Both bands have ties to Seattle. Pansy Division mentioned attending Nathan Hale High School in North Seattle and burning disco albums out on the field. Penelope Houston grew up in Seattle, so hopefully we’ll be seeing more of them very soon.
I give Pansy Division a very enthusiastic thumbs up. I haven’t seen a band this funny since The Squirrels split up.
