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LA Weekly: October 2007 To view this article online, click here: LA Weekly/Nightranger To view the print version of this article, click here: LA Weekly October 2007 LA Weekly Nightranger By Lina Lecaro Wondrous Woman We may not have been up to getting wild in the streets with thousands of strangers, but a more intimate musical experience, such as that of Madame Pamita’s Parlour of Wonders at Taix last Wednesday, was just what the witch doctor ordered. The madame is the latest performing persona of Pam Utterback, former Neptunas bassist and creator of the all-girl Cheap Trick tribute band Cheap Chick, and though the songs she’s doing now may not be as raucous, they are definitely just as crowd-pleasing. The mystically tinged show features Pamita giving audience members an onstage tarot-card reading followed by a lo-fi, old-timey cover or original tune that relates to its meaning (“I’m in Love With a Girl” by Big Star for the two-of-cups card, “Minnie the Moocher” by Cab Calloway for the moon card). The latter may be about a druggie, but damn, it’s fun to sing along to, and after some gentle prompting from our hostess, everyone in the bar did just that. It was soothing and soulful. So was the midset guest accompaniment by Patrick Weise (of the ukulele duo Ukelear Winter), who played an even stranger instrument: a handsaw. More surprises and curiosities are promised at Madame P.’s upcoming gigs: Tequila Mockingbird’s night of vaudeville and burlesque called Club Fluffer at Hyperion Tavern on October 11 and 25, at the “Grand Ole” Echo on October 28, and, for Day of the Dead, a special salon of the supernatural featuring “puppet manipulations, epicurean delights” and more at the Olvera Street coffeehouse Casa de Sousa October 30–November 2. Her Wednesday Taix residency continues through October 24, and we predict fun and good fortune for all who attend. Pasadena Weekly: August 23, 2007 To view this article online, click here: Pasadena Weekly, August 23, 2007 To view the print version of this article, click here: Pasadena Weekly - August 23, 2007 Pasadena Weekly - August 23, 2007 Magical musical mysticism at Coffee Gallery By John Sollenberger The Coffee Gallery Backstage is known for presenting shows ranging from the not-quite-mainstream to the downright odd. The latter is what you can expect Sunday night as Madame Pamita's Parlor of Wonders floats in to bedazzle the uninitiated. Madame Pamita herself describes her act as “an old-time medicine show, filled with mysticism, music and melodrama; an entrancing array of spectacles both quaint and queer!” While gypsy jazz is a genre that's established itself on the back burner of mainstream American music, with this act, you get a real gypsy flair. The mysterious musician and her band perform rural blues and old-time pre-jazz tunes filled with romance, revenge and humor mixed with mayhem. Madame Pamita's show is spiced up with a bit of fortunetelling, magic, great backing musicians and, as you might have guessed, a bit of humor. It's the kind of vibe that master music scribe Greil Marcus has described as part of “the old, weird America.” |
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