Thursday 3rd December 2009 @ Anson Rooms, Bristol

With forty years and four expired members behind them, New York Dolls are currently enjoying somewhat of a renaissance. Rewind to 1973 and no-one, not even a thirteen-year old Morrissey, head of the Dolls’ UK fan-club and all round super-fan, would have predicted that. The Dolls, sardonic, go-for-broke, always slightly out of step with their more cerebral contemporaries, seemed destined to blaze out almost as fast as they blazed in – like a match struck in a cave. After the group imploded amidst drug-abuse and general chaos, Johnny Thunders (dec’d) and Jerry Nolan (dec’d) formed the tedious, witless and, frankly, obnoxious Heartbreakers, David Johansen became a b-movie actor, and Arthur ’killer’ Kane (dec’d) a Mormon!

So how, after reforming in 2004 for the Morrissey curated Meltdown festival, are New York Dolls, whether Bristol realises it or not, the hottest ticket in town tonight? An eighteen-year old kid picks up a guitar and wants to know how to play rock ’n’ roll; you play them a Dolls’ record – that’s how.

Only lead singer Johansen and guitarist Syl Sylvain remain from the original group. It hardly matters. The rest provide studied imitations of the groups’ deceased. Of course Sylvain and Johansen, thin as a rope, face that looks like a wedding-cake left out in the rain, are the stars; displaying their own hard-earned tradition of signature notes and licks, nods and winks. Led by Johansen, who looks like a preening, warmed up corpse, they take a few tunes to get going but when they do they hiss and spit. The old songs sound the best and the new songs sound just like the old ones. A rasping version of Bo Diddley’s Bo Diddley provides a glimpse of the bedrock to their sound, displayed by an extended, effervescent version of Jet Boy. Finally, they send a rocket through the crowd with Dolls’ classic Personality Crisis.

The venue is only half full tonight (shame on you Bristol!) but New York Dolls always were more infamous than popular. The way it should be! One of rock ‘n’ rolls’ last (almost lost) great, dangerous bands, you owe it to yourself to catch them before rigor mortis does – their UK tour still has nights at Hard Rock Hell Fest, Southampton, Leamington Spa, Liverpool and Edinburgh. You have been warned!

www.nydolls.org

James Davey
Photos by Sophie Collard