By DONNA BALANCIA — When The Dollyrots, A Pretty Mess, and Go Betty Go throw a party — you better go!
A great night of girl power — and some guy power too — at The Roxy Sunday night when the bands got together to let loose some good ol’ punk rock with a girlish twist.
We wouldn’t want to mess with any of the members of A Pretty Mess, particularly lead vocalist Dee Skusting whose raucous singing and fun attitude can rival any 80s punk rough guy.
Complete with Megan — who told one fan she’d been travelling the country playing bass with bands for at least the last 13 years — Dirty Dan on guitar, and Aaron Austin on drums, A Pretty Mess is actually a pretty together group.
The members of Go Betty Go — singer and drummer Nicolette and Aixa Vilar, who are sisters, Michelle Rangel on bass and, of course, Betty Cisneros on guitar — don’t think of themselves as being in a “girl band.”
“We never really thought of ourselves as being in a ‘girl band,’ said front gal Nicolette Vilar. “We just think of ourselves as being in a band.”
The bandmembers basically met in college and they do have day jobs in some pretty cool industries like marketing and graphics and “lives” with real families and kids at home.
“We’re so grateful to the fans because they have stuck by us,” said Aixa Vilar. “We are starting up again aftter several years and we’re happy to be playing again.”
The Go Betty Go album Reboot, a crowd-sourced recording, was the whole reason for the party. And the album’s a good listen from a rockin’ band, whether girls or guys. Fun rock and roll songs with an exuberant lead singer, with commanding drumming and exacting guitarwork is what you get from Go Betty Go in concert.
The Dollyrots, who pretty much everyone thanked during the evening, threw the Sunday evening party. An all-ages affair for a reason, Luis and Kelly did this by design.
Even rock n rollers eventually have kids too. In their case, they have a 14-month-old named River, who is getting pretty used to being around concert venues and showcases these days.
“We work our schedules and our gigs around him,” Kelly said. “He’s pretty easy.”
And so is their music.
“Everything today is so beat driven,” said Luis. “But we’re melody-driven and that’s not going to change.”
And it shouldn’t.
