Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers were opening for Man Man on Friday night, and she has just started her set when I arrived at the El Rey theater. Usually there are very few people for the openers, but hell, it was not the case this time! The large crowd was in fury, jumping and moshing like it were the punkiest thing people had ever heard. I found a spot and was just behind a girl who felt down on her ass at least three times during the show, laughing while being helped by her girlfriend,… ah drunk girls!
‘But who is that band?’ asked me a guy standing on my left side… I could not remember their name, which is a great name by the way, it sounds like a real party by itself. From the first song, they seemed quite interesting, were they the main attraction? You could have wondered seeing Shilpa Ray, Janis-Joplin-screaming, out of control, moving like an electric devil on stage when she was not behind her harmonium, beating the hell out this strange machine, part pipe organ, part accordion.
The New York quartet played these foot-stomping furious blues-soul-funk songs, which were sometimes even Pogues-esque in their rhythmic delivery. The energy was to the roof, except for a few slower numbers.
‘This is a song about STDs’ she said to introduce one of her songs, and people acclaimed it as if it was a good thing! And she pumped up again her harmonium, growling and screaming for the joy of everyone; Shipa could not believe what was happening, and I could not decide who was more enthusiastic, Shipa or the adoring crowd. But she made the crowd even happier when she threw a ‘Don’t say it to New York, but I love Los Angeles, don’t say it!’.
She has another song named ‘Erotolepsy’, she sang like all the other ones, with visceral and raw vocals,… although it was hard to understand her lyrics, I began to believe her lyrics were as aggressive, and in-your-face than her stage performance.