Juliette Lewis

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Juliette Lewis

with The Ettes and American Bang

September 27, 2009
Culture Room
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Review by: Joseph Marhee
Photos by: Liana Minassian

       Name recognition was apparently all it took to bring people from every conceivable demographic to go see Juliette Lewis and her new backing band, The New Romantiques, on September 27 at the Culture Room.

       Despite two critically successful albums with her old band, Juliette and the Licks (from which she parted in early 2009), and her first effort since Terra Incognita, not many people know Juliette Lewis as a singer. Most know her as “that girl who set her mom on fire” in Natural Born Killers or the eponymous “other sister” in The Other Sister.

       Her cinematic fame, however, was enough to draw the most eclectic mass of people imaginable: a distinctly out-of-place middle-aged couple “desperate to get out” who had gone to the performance simply after reading a two page spread in the Miami Herald; a drunk woman (who later had to be removed); and a guy wearing blue-sequined pants who thought he was seeing Jenny Lewis (the singer of Rilo Kiley). Obviously unfamiliarity with Lewis’ music was a non-factor.

Juliette Lewis vocals Juliette & the New Romantiques

       Though rather sparse, the crowd of approximately 80-90 people was more energetic than most Culture Room audiences on sold-out evenings. Clearly they wanted to rock, and ultimately that’s what they did.

       The first opening act, a blues-rock group from Nashville called The Ettes, was undoubtedly energetic, but it took nearly four songs for them to hit their stride: The first three songs were uniformly indiscriminate and backed by the most mismatched rhythm section I’ve ever heard.

       The bassist, Jeremy “Jem” Cohen, and the drummer, Maria “Poni” Silver, were a veritable experiment in extremes: aggressive, yet smoothly rolling bass lines boorishly permeated by robotic pounding “drumming” that had all the subtlety of a steamroller, and not in a good way. Lindsay “Coco” Hames, the lead singer and guitarist, was the highlight of the performance. Once the band found its momentum, her throaty yet penetrating delivery was astounding, especially during songs like “I Get Mine.”

       The next act was the entirely unremarkable American Bang. Stylized after the brief revival of garage rock in the late ’90s, the performance left a lot to be desired. In contrast to the Ettes, American Bang was energetic, but in that wholly manufactured and formulated way. Unsurprisingly, vocalist Jaren Johnson’s howling took away from any merit the backing may have. Songs like “Move to the Music” are pretty much the best they’re going to produce, live or otherwise.

Though Terra Incognita is a significantly softer record than past efforts with The Licks such as Like a Bolt of Lightning and Four on the Floor, its melodic-hard rock lends itself well to live performance.

Juliette Lewis vocals Juliette & the New Romantiques

       Despite the lackluster tour-support, Juliette Lewis and the New Romantiques put on a good show, one certainly worth the arguably steep price of admission ($22). Though Terra Incognita is a significantly softer record than past efforts with The Licks such as Like a Bolt of Lightning and Four on the Floor, its melodic-hard rock lends itself well to live performance.

       With a stage persona almost as eccentric as the roles she plays in her movies, Juliette sang songs such as “Hard Loving Woman” and “Romeo” among others. While the band rumbled through numbers from Terra Incognita, Juliette may not have hit all of the notes, but she more than compensated with pure adrenaline and remarkable stagecraft.

       Many people mock the “actor turned musician” archetype, but as one concertgoer put it, “She’s like just totally cool about it.” More to the point: If you’ve got the musical ability and are able to convince people you’re an advocate of matricide, then why not use it to your advantage? Actors can sing and singers can act, and Juliette Lewis proved that without a doubt.

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