Wednesday 26/03/03 The Donnas @ The Scala, London

The Scala was transformed into a real "rock n' roll high school" this evening, as valley girl vixens, the Donnas, brought their feminized version of cock-rock to London on the only UK date of their European promotional tour for their upcoming LP release 'Spend the Night'. These four hot-wired hussies brought their interpretation of Kiss 'Alive II' to town, and although the Scala isn't exactly the LA Forum, the enthusiasm of the loyal Donnas following did their best to emulate the Kiss Army with pre-set chants of "Donnas, Donnas, Donnas...". As the band ripped into a dishevelled, yet energetic version of their new single 'It's On the Rocks', there was not a single sceptical student amongst them.

Neither a runaways parody or the bastard brats of the NYC punk movement, the Donnas have managed to amalgamate their own juvenile take on three cord tot pop and the seedy subject matter of seventies stadium rock revelry into their own cat fight tonight. The unfortunate problem for this evening is that since their initial formation almost 8 years ago when they were merely 14 years of age, the Donnas have missed a musical upgrade along the way. At first glance, their facade of the frenzied foxes seems amusing, but with closer inspection it becomes clear that Donnas F.(bass guitarist Maya Ford), A. (singer Brett Anderson), R. (guitarist Allison Robertson), and C.(drummer Torry Castellano) have simply been wasting the years away, obsessed with their life of delinquent-rock indulgence.

Even the saucy auto-encounters of 'Take Me to the Backseat' and the sassy subject matter 'Too Bad About Your Girl' cannot hold my attention this evening. Maybe I have experienced Spinal Tap on one too many occasions. I seem to be in the minority though, as the Donnas have managed to captivate this crowd of sweaty young debutantes and have stolen any trace of manhood from the starry-eyed skater set.

I am too young to be the oldest and most jaded person in the crowd tonight, but the counterfeit chops of 'All Messed Up' and 'Take It Off' have sent me to the safety of the bar, needing a drink not for refreshment, but more to make the pain go away from this prepubescent rock plunder. Sex, Drugs, and Rock n' Roll have lured many a man to sell their soul, but tonight the Donnas have taken their text book version of LA rock too far, leaving me to think they belong at after-school detention rather than infront of an audience this evening. It might be necessary for these girls to sit their exams again before they can win over this leather clad rock n' roll man.

Photos by Rico Iseppi :: rico.iseppi@gigwise.com