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Norah Jones Goes Punk
By
Jen Carlson
Published May 13, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Carlson
Published May 13, 2006
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Last night we headed to the Delancey to see Pela. When we got there we were told by friends that Norah Jones would be playing at 10:30, in a new "punk band" of hers. We didn't believe it, but stayed - and when Pela ended the singer told the audience to "Stick around for No Jo!" The room was half empty during the set break, and pretty much stayed that way.
Then two girls and one guy, all wearing wigs, took the stage. This was El Mad Mo, and there was no mistaking that Norah Jones was stage right, covered in eye makeup and sporting a blonde wig. The few left in the audience thinking it wasn't her were proved wrong when she started to sing. The songs were well crafted, funny and really, well, good...but definitely not punk. The lyrics were cleverly simple and rhyme heavy ("We'll do it like the bunnies, I'll call you honey, we'll spend all your money")...we honestly loved them. Jones dedicated one song to "the sleazy guy at the bar", adding: "there's one here right?"
The band disappeared as quickly as they came in to the club last night, and leaving us wanting more. No merch, no word on future shows...sadly, they don't even have a MySpace page so we can listen to some streams! UPDATE: they have a website!
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Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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