The Gossip "Keeping You Alive" from Standing in the Way of Control Live at The Annex Madison, WI September 8, 2006

I was very much unsure about going to this show, to the extent that I made sure to buy a ticket in advance to force myself to follow through on it, but I'm so glad I went. My familiarity with the group before the show consisted of only this year's Standing in the Way of Control, which is great, and 2003's live album, Undead in NYC, which is not. Neither one prepared me for the awesome stage presence of singer Beth Ditto, who has maybe the best white-girl blues-rock voice since Janis Joplin.

She also has a smooth physicality while singing that belies her short chubbiness. I assumed there would be some dance in their set -- they are part of the early 2000's wave of "dance-punk" acts, after all -- but I didn't think it would be such a captivating study of the singer's ability to direct a crowd. It really left me with a greater appreciation of the rhythm underlying most of their songs.