I don't get really excited about bands much anymore. There have been instances in the past where I've been to a great concert and I was pumped for days afterwards (David Bowie and Leonard Cohen come to mind), but in general, while I still enjoy discovering new music, I don't feel the same desire to know details about the members of the band as I did in my 20's when I was working in record stores and my days and nights were spent around music. However, I felt a bit of that old thrill a few weeks ago, when Heather and I went to Woodstock to watch a roller derby game, and there was a band playing at half-time...
I heard the unmistakable opening chords of one of my favourite rock and roll songs (
Baba O'Riley by
The Who, which for the longest time I thought was called "Teenage Wasteland"), and turned around to see that they were being played by a band consisting of girls who were definitely not old enough to know the song from when it came out. The band, which goes by the name
Populus Romanus, consists of Queena, far left, on lead guitar and vocals, Grace on lead vocals and bass, and Grace's sister Lucy on drums. I should probably mention that Queena is 12, Grace, 13, and Lucy, 11.
Grace has a powerful voice, and loads of stage presence, and along with Queena (who sang the Pete Townshend part), Lucy, and assistance from a guy playing keyboards off to the side, they gave a thoroughly enjoyable performance. You would have thought I was either a parent, groupie, or teenager by the way I whipped out my out my phone and recorded a video of the song, part of which is posted above.
That was followed by the
Led Zeppelin song,
Kashmir They played a closing set after the game was over that consisted of
The Ramones' classic anthem
Blitzkrieg Bop (Hey Ho, Let's Go!) and
Seven Nation Army by
The White Stripes. When I asked their mother about their choice of material for this particular gig, she said that the band wanted to tailor the songs to the audience, and thought that the people that came to Roller Derby would probably be familiar with those songs. At the time of the show, the girls had only been playing together for a couple of months.