I love the taste of hairspray in the morning.

It still coats my tastebuds.

On a cloudy summer night in the heart of Chelsea, New York, I and a horde of snarling rock music fans witnessed the fiery eclipse of four quashing bands. Nobody wasn’t sure what exactly to expect, but hey…that’s why I’m here. The alcohol flowed. A few dressed up. It was 1987 meets 2025, and the brutal-swinging sounds of Faster Pussycat commanded the crowd into a frenzy at experiencing an aspect of a topsy-turvy gig that US promoters don’t always expect to happen. That was just one of many things that flattered us – truly, when the Supersuckers, the Rumours, and the Lonely Ones parts shots with the crowd, I doubt anyone expected another knock-off kind of show with the same sounding bands. We all knew what we were getting into when we went into that show. Faster Pussycat are legends, and Taime Downe is a boss in the most ceaseless way possible. After a quick meal at the Five Guys in Times Square and a swift ride on the A train going to 14th Street, I floated to the venue, taking the mild tailwinds of early summer in the city as others arrived fashionably early for a thunderclap opening set from Ohio’s the Lonely Ones.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the gig poster for the Racket NYC date would have anyone believe it was a three-band bill. Those who luckily showed up an hour after the doors opened got to embrace a surprise opening set from the Lonely Ones as the buckeye trio of Marty McCoy (bass and vocals), Jymmy Tolland (guitar), and Tristan Woodruff (drums) lit up the room for thirty minutes of rising voltage in songs like Bedroom Door and Don’t Cry for Me with Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven tacked on as the outro verse to zing zap a growing squad of fans wheeling into the venue for the collision course from the Rumours.

Torquing onto the stage next to provide a seismic wake-up slap unto an ingrained audience, the punk-infused hard rock trio named the Rumours came in, crushing with their all-out three-headed half-hour gambit of dynamic music. The hammering presence of the goilz in guitarist Arnela Moore, Carli Foxx handling bass and lead vocal duties, and Clint Wheelman keeping the beat going was so powerful that their set started with a technical issue due to lack of a soundcheck. It was one of the most Spinal Tap-esque moments I have seen happen on stage. Those moments are what makes a concert one hundred percent live. While waiting for restoration to the power supply for the stage monitors, the Rumours delivered a one-hundred percent live and sweeping set of vital cuts like Kill or Be Killed and R U Ready, taking it in stride and countering with a delightfully deranged, powered-up party whose unapologetic lyrics about female empowerment, thunderous reversals from the songs, and tireless movement from the assaulting threesome kept the chaotic night on the right track. The Rumours took the audience on a brick-breaking ride before it was time for the Supersuckers to body press Racket NYC.

When it comes to rock — not all bands are created equal. Since they started their set with the scorching The Evil Powers of Rock ‘n’ Roll, the self-proclaimed greatest rock ‘n’ roll band in the world, the Supersuckers bulldozed the quorum of Racket NYC with their headlong rush of hard rock with high horsepower country— two seemingly opposing genres of music brought into perfect stomping harmony like a sonic magnitude. With Eddie Spaghetti as the searing bassist and vocalist alongside “Metal” Marty Chandler sanding down arrows of riffs and “Captain” Chris Von Streicher drilling down the drums, the Supersuckers would go on to further combine tectonic songwriting with sandpaper vocalization by covering an immense body of work for forty-five minutes while continually keeping a now cleaved room full of concertgoers grooving and swaying by convention, honing in on a diamond storm set-list featuring Rock & Roll Records (Ain’t Sellin’ This Year), Hell City, Hell, and Creepy Jackalope Eye.

Manhattan got to witness something extra special with Faster Pussycat’s Danny Nordahl, aka Slim Tender, joining them on stage to aid backing vocals for Pretty Fucked Up. To return the favor of Danny’s assist, Eddie Spaghetti would appear in a while with Faster Pussycat to roll out a popular earworm with Taime and the boys. Smacking down their time on stage with Born with a Tail, the Supersuckers go to show that they carved out their space in rock music’s ever-changing landscape. They’re humorous, crushing musicians and a blast to see live. Their set may have gone by like a sandstorm, but the impact was real to salt the crowd for the alluring sounds of Faster Pussycat.

It’s time – Faster Pussycat! Oh! Yeah! Strutting onto the stage at 10:45, the five hedonistic bad-asses in Taime Downe (vocals), Danny “Slim Tender” Nordahl (bass), Chad Stewart (drums), Sam “Bam” Koltun (guitar), and Kieran Robertson (guitar) sucker punched a multitude of fans ready to get loud and get hooked with the gritty, power trip opener of Motorbike. What followed was an unapologetic set, with Faster Pussycat lashing out at thirteen of their crunchy, graffiti-ridden deep cuts, including Slip of the Tongue and NOLA, as well as a lot of their MTV sleaze rock relics, such as Don’t Change That Song and Poison Ivy, for those nostalgic for a bygone era. When it comes to Faster Pussycat, a knock-out lineup makes all the difference. The nasty guitar licks primed from the six-string duo of Sam and Kiern, Chad and Danny stomping the bottom end gas pedal through the floor in ruination while respecting the songs, and then there’s the wild child Sunset Strip warlord of Taime Downe at the helm as the last alley cat standing. Faster Pussycat, now a darker and meaner animal bridging the neon past and the magnetic future alike, performed with feeling, fire, and passion. I can attest the same for them not cheating or using backing tracks: Just pure amps, adrenaline, and Downe’s sneering voice ripping through the venue with that blazing determination that comes across his demeanor like he’s turning a venue into a warzone dangerous as he ever was slinking around the mic stand like Spider-Man.

Faster Pussycat’s dangerous and tight, malicious mutations of part trash, part jet-black hard rock, offered up a no-holds-barred Molotov cocktail. Short, loud, and burns fast. The rest of the set was raw, honest, and packed with more hits, including the excellent ballad House of Pain, also featured in the first season of Peacemaker. One of the joys of attending a show in New York is that you never know what’s going to happen on stage – as if we couldn’t get drenched in enough sleaze, Eddie Spaghetti returned Slim Tender’s assist with the Supersuckers, allowing Eddie to provide bass and backing vocals during the charismatic Bathroom Wall. As a bonus to provide some more grit, Carli and Ela from the Rumours joined Faster Pussycat on stage to join in on Shut Up and Fuck, originally by Betty Blowtorch. Rising to the occasion, Faster Pussycat, like a sledgehammer, stunned the crowd during an overall assuring night of impulsive music with no breaks or breathers from all four bands. A Faster Pussycat gig is less of a show and more a siege to behold as one of the undisputed kings of grungy eighties hard rock closed with the classic Faster Pussy-pussy-pussy-pussy-pussycat classic in Babylon, leaving a trail of flattening teased hair, unkempt bathrooms, and hefty bar tabs to be paid off.

Moist, more potent than a shot of 666 proof whiskey, and the feeling a fight could break out at any moment, Faster Pussycat provides a heavy hitter of striking music to the ears, the soul, and the loins, with personal lyrics, gun-slinging guitar riffs, bass lines and drumbeats that sound like somebody fed them through a malfunctioning meat grinder, Faster Pussycat can perform at any venue and attack it with gigavolt havoc. This summer is heating up, and not just in terms of temperature. We all know this tropical time of the year is looking good with can’t-miss concerts, and if attending a Faster Pussycat gig or if seeing the Supersuckers, the Rumours, or the Lonely Ones wasn’t on your show bucket list, make it happen. If you’re someone who experienced the 1980s in real time—or someone discovering 1980s hard rock for the first time—seeing Faster Pussycat live will resonate across your concert timeline with a punk attitude and a dark, magenta coat of paint. Nothing in music history ever stays dead, especially when it comes to the eighties: no money, no tickets, no need to feel ashamed. As long as people keep showing up, it’s very easy to see them live on an eighties package event like M3, a club headlining run — and nostalgia cruises like Monsters of Rock. With a legacy that spans three decades, Faster Pussycat continues to prove why they’re one of the sleekest rock bands of all time to make your night out with friends by seeing some 99% ABV Hollywood rock n’ roll extra lit.

Ian Weber

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