girlfriend in coma

Girlfriend in a Coma

I begrudgingly went to see a Smiths' tribute band, called Girlfriend

in a Coma, at the State Theater in Falls Church, Va., on Thursday

night with Lily. Although I was reluctant to go, I had a pretty good

time of it by the end of the show! (Lily, by contrast, was giddy from

the first note of the first cover song...)

See, this fellow Christopher Quinn of DC does a pretty mean Morrissey

impersonation. He doesn't look anything like the man, but Quinn's

height and hairdo help him in performing some pretty impressive moves

from Moz, down to the dance style, rolling on the ground, the mincing

steps and the overall preening. The whole show is really about him, as

he croons his way through an assortment of songs from The Smiths from

across their career. The rest of the band, which includes several

members from Baltimore 80's cover band The Reagan Years, simply plays

on and lets Quinn do his thing.

And do it he does. The audience gets into it with women throwing

flowers at him and stage invaders leaping up to give the guy a hug.

Even the most skeptical Smiths fan has to bust out a smile or two and

dance along to "This Charming Man," "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now,"

and "William, It Was Really Nothing," as Quinn yelps out a darn

convincing performance, all things considered.

About 200 people showed up at the State Theater for this and they all

had a good time. The cover was $11 a ticket, which was a bit much for

a tribute band. On a related note, maybe it's time I considered

changing the name of this blog to "People Who Listen to The Smiths in

DC" or something. (On another related note, we noticed that Ottobar in

Baltimore actually hosted Smiths/Morrissey karaoke that night! How