Crustcake Reviews - Made Out Of Babies Live 8/12

by theseseans (NYC)

I got to Southpaw early Tuesday night out of sheer excitement. I love Made Out Of Babies's newest offering, The Ruiner in a completely unhealthy fashion. I have also heard many accounts of Julie Christmas being intense live, so I got there a little before 9:30 just before the opening act Pistola took the stage.

Pistola are female fronted hard rock group that seem smarter than your average Evanescence-like band. Their songs had good dynamics but ultimately failed to keep my interest as they all sounded alike. Their frontwoman had a nice voice and performed well, hitting all the appropriate notes while maintaining a good stage presence, but with her Maynard-like inflection I had a hard time understanding many of the words coming out of her mouth. I would recommend this band if you have a serious soft spot for Evanescence or Lacuna Coil, otherwise...


PIGS took the stage at 10:40 and played fast, dirty, rock n' roll that went so well with my Budweiser and shot of Jack Daniels it was just scary. PIGS set was pretty straight ahead, but they managed to incorporate enough 'groove' into their attack to keep listeners slightly off balance without losing any of their viciousness. PIGS featured Cooper from Made Out Of Babies (bass in MOOB) on guitar and vocals. After their set I will definitely be on the look out to see them again.

At 11:40 Made Out Of Babies took the stage and opened with 'Cooker.' Their set was excellent, the band played flawlessly and with ease. While Julie commands a lot of attention, it is worth noting how good this band is, and how good these songs are. Julie's stage presence was very much controlled for this performance (much to my chagrin) with her remaining stationary for a majority of the show. After 'Cooker' she did address the audience with "I have to tell you, I'm really fucked up right now," which could have explained a lack of theatrics but whatever she was on didn't seem to affect her vocal duties. She performed very well throughout the show, controlling not only her live voice but samples as well. While the use of samples may not appeal to all, I was impressed that Julie always choose to sing the appropriate parts, making sure the songs had the energy they deserved (for example, the second verse in 'The Major' she sang the backing vocals while using a sample of her spoken part). Their set closed with my personal favorite 'How To Get Bigger' and while Julie was still mainly stationary, her facial expressions and stature as she belted out the song was more than enough to keep me enthralled.

Set List:
Cooker
Invisible Ink
The Major
Grimace
Song From Coward*
The Major
Stranger
How To Get Bigger

*I shamefully admit I am not as familiar with their back catalogue as I should be. I'm just not over The Ruiner enough to move on yet.

On a side note, while speaking to Made Out Of Babies drummer Matt he said that the band is in talks with The End Records about a vinyl pressings of The Ruiner. I got REALLY excited.

Made Out Of Babies Tour Dates:

August, 15 - MTC, Koln,
August, 16 - Elfer Music Club, Frankfurt
August, 17 - Le Klub, Paris
August, 18 - Negasonic, Aals
August, 19 - DNA Cafe, Brussels
August, 20 - Scheldapen, Antwerp
August, 21 - 013, Tilburg, ^
August, 22 - Az Conni, Dresde
August, 23 - Silver Rocket Festival, Prague
August, 24 - A38, Budapest
August, 25 - Mladinski Center, Velenje,
August, 26 - Feierwerk, Munich, ^^

^ w/ Taint
^^ w/ The Locust