Though they were Akron/Family’s opening act, the queenly quartet that is Warpaint played to a crowd of their own hard-won loyal subjects last Wednesday at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Evidence of this was the crust of barely legal teenage boys adhering to the front of the stage like barnacles hoping against hope that their favorite fairytale rock princesses would perform in skirts. Skirts were not worn, however, bassist Jenny Lee Lindberg and drummer Stella Mozgawa wore fetching red onsie pajama numbers.
Fashion statements aside, Lindberg and Mozgawa definitely became a team laying down a strong rhythm track on to which Theresa Wayman and Emily Kokal painted vivid vocals and ambient guitar riffs. Mozgawa, a nascent addition to the band, made a strong impression adding a stiffness to their sound that previously had been lacking. What with their banging rhythm section and cultivated ethereal mystic wiccan vibe, they’re well on their way to becoming the female analog of Led Zeppelin.
I got a chance to chat with the girls after their set and opined them of my Zeppelin theory and they liked that. I then asked if their occultist vibe was intentional and I got silence. I followed this up by asking if they had pentagram tattoos at which point I was escorted to the curb in a gentle but firm headlock by Mozgawa. After I was permitted to return, I questioned Mozgawa if they were all friends to which she replied, “We’d have to be; we’re three females traveling around in a van.”
So there you have it; the Warpaint girls were super cool of the home-grown L.A. variety. However, it’s worth noting that Wayman made mention of possibly relocating the band to Brooklyn. I guess we shall just have to wait and see about that. In the meantime, enjoy photos from the show and check out the trailer for Theresa Wayman’s major motion picture debut “Pete Smalls Is Dead.”
