Live: Pop Twins the Veronicas Take New York
WHO: The Veronicas WHERE: Hiro Ballroom, New York City
WHY: It's one of the great mysteries of our time — why can't pop-rock twins the Veronicas truly break through outside of their native Australia? They've got the look, the hooks and the talent (times two). And after we caught their nearly sold-out show in NYC last week, the conundrum only became harder to suss out. These girls can sing. And they flip off rock star moves with the ease of stadium-trained pros. So it was a bit weird to see them bring all the big gestures to the decidedly small Hiro Ballroom. But, to the girls' credit, they didn't seem bummed by the relatively minuscule crowd.
"We might have 10 times more fans in Australia, but we always say American fans are 10 times crazier," they gushed with a sufficient amount of sincerity. And the tunes (especially top ten Aussie single "When It All Falls Apart") had no problems hitting like so many hair metal smashes. The sisters have been splitting their time between Oz and L.A. the past few years and — based on the cymbal-hungry, Sebastian Bach-esque drummer and Lisa's Guns N' Roses t-shirt — it often looked like they were offering a PG-13, fun house mirror tribute to the '80s Sunset Strip scene. But instead of "Girls, Girls, Girls," the theme was girl power; revved-up tracks like "Revenge Is Sweeter (Than You Ever Were)" and "This Is How It Feels" had the pair taking ebullient pride in getting over various dirt bag dudes. For whatever reason, the duo may never rise above cult status in the U.S. — but neither the Veronicas nor their fervent followers seemed to care last Thursday night.
