The Raveonettes - Milwaukee, WI

Playing to a full house at one of the few bastions of live independent music in Milwaukee, Mad Planet, The Raveonettes, Sune Rose Wagner, Sharin, and their assembled parts played a raging set culled from their three full length albums. The prominence of dark rimmed glassed women and neo-greasers wondering what the knack is and how to get it would surely accept the new tunes. Regrettably, the knack wasn't happening on this crisp spring night.

With Sune and Sharin in the groove, a rapidly paced triumvirate of rockers woke the crowd up, with the band only momentarily pausing between songs. The momentum appeared purposely killed by sliding in the tenderly slow "Heavens," from their recently released Pretty in Black album, immediately grinding the bouncing masses to a halt.

Post "Heavens," the show was void of personal interaction between the band and the fans, effectively stripping any enthusiasm that the Raveonettes had for their new songs. Owing to either rustiness or unfamiliarity with the new songs, the Raves focused on playing the songs correctly instead of pumping up the crowd for the fresh cuts. That 'magic' was missing, especially if one attended the previous Raveonettes show at the same venue almost exactly one year earlier. Perhaps it's too early for the new album to have sunken in? However the crowd was very enthusiastic about the classic Raveonettes songs. "That Great Love Sound" and the cover "My Boyfriend's Back" whipped the crowd into a hand clapping frenzy, followed by a series of fast paced rockers of their earlier days revving onlookers the right way, only to bring them back down yet again with newer songs "Ode to LA" and "Love in a Trashcan."

"Ode" featured Ronnie Spector attending the show in spirit and definitely led to a surreal part of the show. Spector, who leant a verse and some refrains on the album version, haunted the venue with her distinctive voice while Sharin and Sune stared at the floor. It's not natural to hear a voice and see no one's lips moving. It was just odd and it seemed like the band and the crowd both weren't sure how to compute the situation.

An extended "Twilight" concluded the main set with much of the crowd heading for the exit, assuming it was over. It wasn't. The Raveonettes pulled out one more song from their new album, "Somewhere in Texas" to finish the night with a fraction of the initial crowd.

A solid performance overall, but the Raveonettes were hampered by a late night show in notoriously early rising Milwaukee, and the fact that their new album is only ten days old.