New York Dolls' Slow Start Improves To A Glamtastic Finish

I arrived at the Phoenix a couple of songs into the opening set by Toldeo, Ohio's We Are The Fury, but that was still too early. The band's mix of hard rock, glam and punk is in a similar vein to the New York Dolls, but they're not in the same league as the headliners. Enough said.

But even the Dolls weren't in the same league as themselves compared to the two previous times I'd seen them since singer David Johansen and guitarist Sylvain Sylvain reformed the group in 2004, 30 years after their last studio album, with new members Steve Conte (guitar), Sami Yaffa (bass) and Brian Delaney (drums) playing the respective roles of deceased members Johnny Thunders, Arthur "Killer" Kane, Jerry Nolan and Billy Murcia. Johansen's vocal mix was too low, his pants were too tight (I don't know, and really don't want to know, if that crotch bulge was natural or not), and the sound was generally muddy. While the sound improved somewhat as the night went on, Johansen's trousers unfortunately didn't loosen up.

Things picked up four songs in with a cover of Janis Joplin's "Piece Of My Heart," "Plenty Of Music" from 2006's underrated One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This comeback album, and "Private World," which was dedicated to Kane.

"Why wouldn't they have Family Day on a day when you can actually go outside?" Johansen asked about Ontario's new cold weather holiday, before launching into "Looking For A Kiss."

"Babylon," featuring a Sylvain solo, took things up a notch. The show pretty much stayed in high gear from there, as the band inserted a bit of the Dovells' "Bristol Stomp" into the very boppy "Rainbow Store," just as Thunders had done years before with Gary U.S. Bonds' "Seven Day Weekend." The band's classic cover of Bo Diddley's "Pills" worked wonders in getting the crowd to sing along to its infectious chorus, and Sylvain strapped on an acoustic for Thunders' heroin-related ballad, "You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory."

Sylvain stayed with the acoustic on "Fishnets And Cigarettes," which introduced an excellent home stretch run of "Dance Like A Monkey," a kick-ass "Trash" and a rockin' "Jet Boy," which saw Johansen throwing flowers into the audience before the band left the stage.

After a very short break, the group returned for an encore. To no longtime fans' surprise, I'm sure, it was "Personality Crisis." It was worth the wait, and seemed like the night's capper, especially after a group bow and Delaney walking off. But the aging though still enthusiastic crowd demanded another song and received "Gotta Get Away From Tommy" as a reward for their devotion before the lights came on and Tom Jones' "What's New Pussycat?" seeped out of the P.A. system after a 90-minute show that let people exit the club in time to enjoy the last 15 minutes of Family Day in the cold.