May 22, 1997
Luscious Jackson rises above Warehouse acoustics

One thing you can say about Luscious Jackson: They have staying power. And then some.

Faced with lousy acoustics and a third-full venue, both of which were painfully evident at the Warehouse on Tuesday night, the New York quartet could have been forgiven for turning in a short performance.

After all, they were here just seven months ago, treating a sold-out crowd at the Opera House to their seductive, cool sound, which fuses jazz, funk, punk and hip-hop.

Instead, the vibrant and refreshingly original collective stuck it out for an hour and a half at the Warehouse, rising above the horribly muddy sound mix that threatened to ruin the heavily textured, harmony-dependent material from their latest album, Fever In, Fever Out.

Charismatic lead vocalist-bassist Jill Cunniff, earthwoman guitarist Gabrielle Glaser, calm, cool and collected blond keyboardist Vivian Trimble and stellar drummer Kate Schellenbach were aided in their musical quest by deejay Alex Young and hugely talented Anne Hairston on percussion. Hairston also picked up the bass whenever Cunniff put down her instrument to shake a tambourine and swing her voluptuous hips.

Truth be told, Luscious Jackson actually seemed to be having a good time.

They were all smiles, gazing down at the large contingent of young girls moving on the floor below to the continuous beat of Schellenbach (originally the drummer for the Beastie Boys when she was all of 15) and Hairston, whose first name the enthusiastic crowd later chanted during the encore.

Cunniff also engaged in conversation whenever she could, in between older material and such new songs as Soothe Yourself, Mood Swing, Naked Eye, Electric, Why Do I Lie and Under Your Skin.

"Thank you angels -- that's what you are," she cooed at one point.

As for the inexplicable low attendance, the concert came during an extremely busy week that will see performances by the newly regrouped Echo And The Bunnymen, Erasure, Prodigy, Supergrass, Matthew Sweet and Iggy Pop over the next seven days. And all at different venues.

Thankfully, none of them will be the Warehouse, which so far has got my vote for the place most likely to ruin a concert.

SUN RATING 3 OUT OF 5