Lorraine Lewis and her band of Femmes (or should it be band of Fatales?) took to the Whisky a Go Go stage on Saturday night for a quick-hit set almost entirely encompassed of the lone Femme Fatale release from 1988.
Femme Fatale have resurfaced as of late and have appeared on select tour dates as well as being seen on the Monster of Rock cruises. This mini tour brought them from Florida, to the Lucky Strike Jam in Hollywood, to Vamp’d in Las Vegas and back to the Strip for tonight’s show.
Although the band doesn’t look like it did back when their sole album was recorded, this new, young group of women bring a fresh energy that perfectly compliments their ageless leader. The band now consists of a who’s who of the LA Rock scene. On Guitars are Courtney Cox and Nikki Stringfield (The Iron Maidens), Janis Tanaka, Bass (toured with P!NK and L7), Katt Scarlett, Keyboards and Athena, Drums (ExWives of Rock, and little sister of Tommy Lee). The first five songs all came from the eponymous titled debut.
“Falling In and Out of Love” kicked off the evening as Lorraine made great use of the tiny Whisky Stage. This was followed by “Baby’s Gun”, “Back in Your Arms”, “Cradle Rocking”, and “If” . Next up was the first “new” track, “Buried Alive” followed by “Heat the Fire”.
These were followed by another 2 new songs, “Lady in Waiting” and “One More for the Road”, that brought out special guest, Michael Grant from LA Guns, to assist on guitar duties as well as a couple of dancers to bookend the stage.
Their hit song “Waiting for the Big One” closed out the main set as the band took their bows and retreated to the stairs. Only Lorraine remained who thanked all those who had traveled from her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico and elsewhere to see the band.
The encore of “Rebel” was started by Lorraine who was soon joined by Courtney (Who needed a shot before she could lend her accompaniment on the guitar). The rest of the band returned to jam out the end of the song and say goodbye to the Whisky Crowd. During her absence from Femme Fatale, Lorraine Lewis dabbled in Country and NewAge music.
It was good to see her back and the reaction from the packed house let her know that she will always be welcome to continue to rock.
