The best thing about going to a 3rd and Lindsley show is seeing the people who aren’t there to watch the scheduled artists, so you can imagine how the sorority girls and country music fans reacted when they sat through Kendall Morgan and Bitch (formerly known as Bitch & Animal) on Monday night.
Kendall Morgan started things off with an acoustic set of melody-driven indie pop. If anyone was fortunate enough to witness a cat fight between Leigh Nash, Eisley and Karen O., their combined voices would probably produce something similar to Kendall’s And anyone who would enjoy witnessing that fight is probably the kind of person who would enjoy a Lilith Fair concert, which is what Kendall’s music tends to remind us of. Her songs had Alanis Morissette’s melodies, Beth Orton’s chords, the smooth vibe of The Cranberries and a little bit of KT Tunstall’s folksyness. Some choice songs included "Gone Away," "Numb" and "Theif," whose lyrics made us take a hard look at ourselves and the state of our world.
It wasn’t too tough to take a look at what happened next, though, because we got to feast our eyes on Bitch and her New York entourage. Girl duo, The State Of, gave us some straight up pretty indie pop/rock with super tight harmonies. Next, we watched a short video by Billie and the Violent Kids, providing us with a quick glimpse into Billie’s mind and some erratic footage of skateboarding, football and other … things … all set to some electro-trancey tunes produced by Bitch, (silliness provided by Billie).
Things came to a close when Bitch sashayed on stage wearing her prom dress – a black cloak with a stout golden collar – wielding an electric violin. Backed by The State Of, she performed a variety of songs from her new album Blasted, and other old favs, some of which were in her speak-singing manner – (think pervy Ani Difranco at her snarkiest in the interest of efficiency) – but all of which were dedicated to Jesus Christ. God bless Bitch for singing songs like "My Clit Is A Bitch," "Kitchen," "Indian Blood" and this one chant about crystal meth. Despite the tomfoolery that encompassed her set, it was hard to shrug off the sneaking suspicion that Bitch is waaaay smarter than the rest of us, and for that, I bestow a personal blessing upon her.
Monday night was certainly a gay old time, (no pun intended), so dare to dream, and go check out all of these artists. True gems. – Erin Manning