Misterwives at Madame Jojo’s

Pop music has its ups and downs – mostly downs, when it is auto-tuned and electronically based to appease the masses.  But when you have a singer-songwriter who utilises influences from Motown to the liberating freedom of Woodstock, then you can bet it will be good. Misterwives, hailing all the way from Astoria, Queens, came to rock out to a small but passionate crowd at Madame Jojo’s last night. This was a show that illustrated the potential of a band with a big career ahead of them, with upbeat pop music that is packed with passion, soul and charisma.

With the music solely written by frontwoman Mandy Lee, their array of influences range from No Doubt to Aretha Franklin to Janis Joplin. Misterwives played tunes from their new EP Reflections, which sounded like a mix of reggae, pop, punk and other genres put together. Overall, it was fresh, raw and original – very pleasant to listen and dance to as an audience member. Lee’s voice was absolutely amazing, packed with so much soul and emotion that she took the crowd’s breath away with her uncompromising energy and stage presence. It was as if she was a lost member of Motown, somehow breaking through the space-time continuum to provide a 21^st century twist on her predecessors last night.

Backed up with drums, bass, guitar, keyboards and even a trumpet, a wild and tight cover of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun was enough to make Misterwives’ show an absolute success.   The crowd was small, but they responded well to this stellar performance. That is enough to justify Misterwives as a band we’re going to see and hear about much more in the very near future.

 Joe Hoffman
Photos: Erol Birsen

For further information and future events visit Misterwives’ website here.

Watch the video for Reflections here: