sarah tillman

It was only a matter of time before MTV got its grubby hands on the Smell. That’s right: tonight’s show featuring NME darlings the Gossip was nothing more than a stunt to film ten seconds worth of live footage for the former music channel to play at the end of their reality shows—before they break to commercials. It’s sad to say that the once-great R&B-infused gospel-stomping Gossip was now pandering to the Viacom corporation. The show started off on a promising note, however, as Mr. John Wiese “performed” about 20 minutes of noise, only to be crudely interrupted by an MTV crew member (with fingers stretched and eyeballs popping out) informing him that he had “FIVE MINUTES!” left on his set. I don’t think Mr. Wiese will be in any cable station promos any time soon. Following Wiese was a band I missed in favor of a plate of sushi. Sorry, Panther. If you want a review, pick a less common band name. (Panthers, Japanther, Japanthers, Black Panthers, etc.) I made it back to catch the wonderful and youth-inspiring Slits-meets-early ‘80s L.A. punk set by Mika Miko. Good job, M/M—thanks for keeping me around for the lackluster set that was to follow. Somewhere along the Gossip’s decade-long trek they managed to go from playing basements in the midwest to performing duets with Jarvis Cocker at awards ceremonies on foreign soil. Good for them, I say—they changed up their sound (less blues and more Miami Vice) and thank God it seems to be working for them. But aside from a cute Aaliyah/Timbaland cover, their set was nothing short of a yawn fest. Even the addition (if you can call it that, since the guy pretty much just stood there starry eyed and barely made any type of noise) of a bassist/percussionist can’t restore this band to its glorious past.

— Luis Farfan