Bush Tetras at le Poisson Rouge

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Pat Place relocated  to New York City in 1975 to pursue a career as a visual artist. Falling in with the downtown music and art scene, she became the original guitarist and a founding member of the no-wave band the Contortions. She then formed Bush Tetras in 1979 with drummer Dimitri "Dee Pop" Papadopoulos. In short time, they replaced their original singer with another former art student, Cynthia Sley, who earlier that year moved to New York City from her native Cleveland, Ohio. Within a year, Bush Tetras stormed the New York club scene and built an underground following. Lacking commercial success, however, Bush Tetras split in 1983, reformed in 1995, split again in 1998, and reunited in 2005. After three albums, Bush Tetras' most recent product is the three-song EP There's a Hum, released on July 26, 2019. Since 2016, Bush Tetras has consisted of Sley, Place, Papadopoulos, and bassist Val Opielski.

Bush Tetras' concert at le Poisson Rouge tonight was billed as a 40th anniversary concert, and so it was perhaps more festive than usual. The band performed three of its newer songs; the rest of the set consisted of the better-known early songs, including a few deep cuts. Sley sang the familiar melodies, as Place played slicing, jagged guitar riffs with plenty of reverb, Opielski played rubbery bass lines, and Pop controlled the percussion with utmost precision. A steady undercurrent of angular post-punk guitar leads intruded on funk strokes, and the audience swayed to the gripping rhythms. Guest vocalists included Angela Yeager, who sang on the first Bush Tetras recordings, Felice Rosser of the band Faith NYC, and a fair amount of the audience who joined Bush Tetras on stage for the encore of "Too Many Creeps." Bush Tetras proved that at age 40 the band retains the vim and vigor of its early years.

Set list:

1. Snakes Crawl
2. True Blue
3. There Is a Hum
4. Das Ah Riot
5. Stand Up and Fight
6. Can't Be Funky
7. Cowboys in Africa
8. A Sucker Is Born
9. Things That Go Boom in the Night
10. You Taste Like the Tropics
11. Cold Turkey (Plastic Ono Band cover)

Encore:

1. Too Many Creeps