Concert Review: Lady Rizo Is A Glamor Hippie At Joe’s Pub
Lady Rizo is a glamor hippie; her words and now mine. She matches the idealism of love and peace with the glitz and shine of a drag ball. She is drama and flare with flower power and political care. Thus, when it comes to fame, she and I both would agree, she deserves it. From listing various names for our current dictator like, “Angry Apricot” and “Cinnamon Hitler”, to explaining how her long search for love led to Australia. In between laughs and burlesque, Lady Rizo brought about a sense of nostalgia at Joe’s Pub.
Lady Rizo reminds me of those classic, vaudeville acts that would drive cross country to glamorize locals with the idea that life could be celebrated. This notion seems too daring for these current times, of which I could tell Lady Rizo was a political follower. She could not stop mentioning the climate of sad that draped over the world at seeing America, a beacon of hope, choose to be a staple of hate. This truth inspired her to sing her songs with a fervor as if they left her feverish with chills and illusions. Singing from her second studio album, Indigo, the Grammy Winner soared with more infusions than a cocktail. She gave jazz a psychedelic feeling in “Gypsy In Me” and gave blues a darker, folkish vibe in “Under”. Yet, she brought a mystic rock vibe to love in “ Loving In Colour” and added a splash of disco to classic pop in “Hit of You”. Still, most importantly, she brought every genre to its knees with high notes that would have made Patti Lupone say, “That is our new Evita”. Blessed with a highly teased, platinum blonde hair, a voracious sensitivity for the needy, and a general feeling that she belongs in cinema, Lady Rizo was the epitome of theatricality. She presented Indigo as if it were a musical about the 4 years she lost and found herself through music, and how that time was a reflection of everyone who has been through the same.
It is no surprise that Lady Rizo remarked how everybody in her band had cried in the last month. For her, if you do not laugh and shed a tear as consistently as you breathe then can you say you are living? She was so in tune with her emotions, which is why she was so meticulous in using her voice to add tension to her songs. Her cover of “Lilac Wine” was one of the best I have ever seen because she understood and fleshed out the loneliness and abandonment that drove this song’s poetry. “The Ghost of Chateau Marmont” and “Albatross” amped up the feelings of loss or emptiness as she marveled humanity’s addiction to fame and attention. The irony did not surpass her, especially because her show is one giant, unabashed, “LOOK AT ME!”. She entered from the back with a huge, raven inspired coat, ate a rose on stage after using it to seduce a young woman, and then did a public, outfit change. She was clearly comfortable with wailing her voice like a natural storm of notes, and flaunting her body as if it were the rainbow after it. She meshes the humor, and even awkwardness, of sensuality with the beauty of physical connection. In essence, she is like an “I Love Lucy” episode re-enacted by Dita Von Teese and voiced over by Patti Lupone and Janis Joplin’s daughter. If that does not sound like a “must-attend” show then I pity you and your taste. For More Information On Lady Rizo Click Here.
