Artist: Cocaine
Venue: The Theatres (New York, NY)
Opener: n/a
Date: 6/13/2008
Label: Independent Artist

Having caught one of their dress rehearsals when the band was just getting back into the swing of their craft after only a couple of months of reunion time, I found myself intrigued enough to watch the calendar for the chance to go rock out with them again. I had expected to see them performing at one of the locale watering holes because it fit the bands image but instead of a typical venue I would find them deep in the recesses of “The Theaters”. The building itself seems to house two full stage areas with ample seating and tonight in the basement section an off-Broadway independent performance called “Eightballs” was taking place. It was more than appropriate that a band like Cocaine would be drawn to this and if there was mayhem to be had you could count on lead singer Coco Caine to be the girl in charge of it. Now for the continuing adventures of the Glam Rock sensation that’s hitting the nation – Cocaine!!!

I missed the play I was sad to say but caught the mighty Cocaine just as they were preparing to hit the stage and tonight they even had their sign with them and that surely added a little more atmospheric fun to the festivities. Taking a cue from the KISS playbook, Cocaine also performs in front of a brightly lit sign that’s emblazoned with the word (you guessed it) “Cocaine”. Adding this setting to the occasional smoke machine and some good old fashioned Glam Rock you know that you are in for a good time. The band hit the stage with the usual excitement and this time around it actually seemed as though Coco knew where she was. The girl jet sets back and forth and is generally under the influence of whatever finds her so it was nice to see that she was a little more lucid of a state than she has been known to be in the bands torrid past. The set list was a lot of what I saw during the dress rehearsal and sadly being so caught up in the super- sexiness of Rock Goddess Coco, I neglected to scribble down every tune as they did them. Tonight the players of the independent show had loaded up garbage pails full of beers and left them for the Rock show which was a pleasant surprise and since many of them were being tossed back and forth to eager hands that even the seats were a rock and roll danger zone. Always a good time in my opinion. Tonight I noticed that Coco chose to talk to the audience quite a bit more than she usually does and that was a nice surprise. Usually she is all about the business of music and whatever bottle she is holding. She was very thankful to the players in “Eightballs” and let everyone know what an honor it was to be performing after such a fun play.

Guitarist and bassist Husko and Jerko were the strong silent types as usual and pretty much the enforcers to keep Coco admirers off the small stage that was set up this evening. Their playing was as fun as usual and when a reasonable break in the music happened, the audience yelled for a drum solo which drummer Marco delivered with ease. Towards the end of the night the whole place was dancing around and many were in the midst of the musicians but no one seemed to care at this point. Coco was climbing over the lucky lad’s in the front row laps for better emotion and reaction during the final moments of the later tunes. Her teasing and taunting left many of them frustrated and sad, but to them I say fear not, at least she knew you were there. There are miles of broken hearts behind the tour bus that Coco Caine rides on. The last number was pretty ad hoc and off the top of everyone’s heads as the band jumped into a rendition of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” and while it was a little messy I think it did the number proud and certainly left everyone screaming for more music. Sadly, they were done and had to get moving. Of course, you know they will be back sometime soon, so just keep watching the papers or their official site to know when.

Set List (Partial):
1. Two More Days
2. Radion
3. Party’s In The Back (Mullets Rock)
4. Marco Caine drum solo
5. Smells Like Teen Spirit

Here’s a shot of Coco Caine and her friend the lovely Maggie Levin.

Official Website: http://www.cocainetheband.com