Never before have I seen a performance quite like what I saw Monday night from new Los Angeles band Starcrawler at School Night at Bardot.
Taking the stage in a hospital gown was frontwoman Arrow de Wilde with one of the most frightening looks I’ve ever seen. She had boxing shoes on, she had some sort of bedazzled bottoms on underneath the gown.
De Wilde went into the crowd multiple times, at one point picking up a candle off one of the tables up front and holding it to someone’s face. She was much in character — a cross between Ozzy Osbourne and very early Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
The vocals were hard to make out over the guitars, but they even resembled Karen O’s rougher vibe a bit. At one point, I was taking notes on the show on my phone and the guitarist Henri Cash looked at me and mimicked me on my phone — which I fucking loved. There were a few malfunctions — Cash’s microphone stand fell forward and bopped a girl on the head (she was okay). But for them to have such confidence on stage and not be old enough to drink, they’re positioning themselves to go pretty far.
I first gave them a listen when I got an e-mail saying Ryan Adams is producing their debut full-length record and the lead single “Ants”. Pretty much anything Ryan Adams fucks with, I’m down for — and I wasn’t at all disappointed Monday night.
The next time you can catch them around the area is in San Bernardino at Cal Jam 17 on October 7 and as part of Desert Daze Fest at Joshua Tree on October 13.
Check out their Rough Trade Session of “Ants” below!
Photo courtesy of Autumn de Wilde
