I saw James Chance and the Contortions at Le Poisson Rouge last night, with my boyfriend Jay. To be honest, I’d never heard of James Chance and the Contortions before Jay introduced me to them—and before this show I’d never really heard any Contortions songs besides “Contort Yourself”—but I had a good time.
The crowd was evenly split between old-timers who’d probably seen James Chance in the ’70s, mostly middle-aged men with fedoras—and one woman who told the bouncer as she stepped out for a cigarette, “Remember this face, I’ve got a bingo-playing face”—and younger record geeks with black-rimmed glasses and just the right amount of stubble (permanently two-day old). Also at least one person with a Talk Normal t-shirt; I guess you could call Talk Normal no-wave-revival?
James Chance had on a white suit, sort of lounge singer-ish, and a David Lynchian pompadour. If you closed your eyes and listened to him sing, you wouldn’t know whether it was 2010 or 1978. If you opened your eyes, it was almost like watching a ventriloquist throw his voice, seeing this 57-year-old man sing exactly the same way he did 30 years ago.
They played “Contort Yourself,” of course, and also sped-up covers of “Chain of Fools” and “Super Bad.” I took a video of “Super Bad” on my flip-phone but it suuuucked, so here’s a video of them playing “Super Bad” at PS1 in 2008. And just for fun, here’s their cover of “Jailhouse Rock.”
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