Concert Review: The Surfrajettes and Black Widows at the Uptown VFW

Me and the Surfrajettes! From left to right: Nicole Damoff, Abby Jo, me, Annie Lillis, and Shermy Freeman, November 8, 2024.

The Surfrajettes on stage at the Uptown VFW, November 8, 2024. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Black Widows on stage, November 8, 2024. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

On Friday night I saw two excellent bands, the Surfrajettes, and Black Widows, at the Uptown VFW in Minneapolis. The Surfrajettes are one of my favorite bands, I’ve seen them in concert twice before, once in October of 2023, and then again in March of 2024, both times at the Turf Club in Saint Paul. As always, the Surfrajettes put on a fantastic show of surf rock. For this leg of their fall tour, the Surfrajettes have a new face on bass: Abby Jo, filling in for Sarah Butler. The show on Friday was only Abby’s fourth concert with the Surfrajettes, but you wouldn’t have known it from the seamless way that her playing fit in with the group. Abby Jo has played with drummer Annie Lillis in several bands before, and perhaps this accounted for Annie’s especially exuberant drumming on Friday evening. As always, the guitar interplay between Shermy Freeman and Nicole Damoff was amazing. As I’ve written before, one of the highlights of seeing the Surfrajettes live is watching the seamless way that Shermy and Nicole trade off lead and rhythm guitar parts. They have a musical telepathy on stage that would be the envy of any group.  

The Surfrajettes played many songs from their new album Easy as Pie, which was just released at the beginning of October. I reviewed Easy as Pie here, and I’d highly recommend it, it’s a fantastic listen and a great example of the Surfrajettes’ sound. They also played a good sampling of songs from their first album, 2022’s Roller Fink, as well as some of my favorite Surfrajette tunes that have only appeared on singles and EP’s, like “Undercover Secretary,” “El Condor Pasa,” and “Banshee Bop.” The Surfrajettes have a knack for writing original songs that are catchy and tuneful, and they are also able to take other songs and successfully adapt them to the surf rock genre—some examples would be “She Loves You,” “Heart of Glass,” and the Spice Girls’ “Spice Up Your Life.”  

The Surfrajettes kept the energy level high, as they didn’t play many ballads, and sometimes there was hardly a break between songs as Annie counted off the next song just as the applause from the previous song was dying down. The crowd was really into it, and they gave the Surfrajettes lots of applause.  

Black Widows had the first set of the evening, and they got the crowd revved up with their music, a mix of surf rock, punk rock, and a little bit of country as well. The two groups worked well to have on the same bill, as their music complimented each other well, but their different styles meant that they didn’t sound too similar, either.  

Black Widows are a three-piece band, comprised of Corinne Caouette on guitar and vocals, Pamela Laizure on bass and vocals, and Madalyn Rowell on drums. Black Widows are from the Twin Cities, and they were with the Surfrajettes for just a few dates of this tour. They played a mixture of instrumental songs and vocals. One of my favorite songs was the bitingly satirical “Baby Boy,” about boys who are too obsessed with their toys, which is unfortunately all too applicable after last week’s election. Other highlights included the twangy country song “Mattie Mae,” and the rocking “Mummy Mama Boogie.” All three of the members of Black Widows are powerhouse players, and I was especially impressed with Corinne’s guitar playing. (She actually broke a guitar pick during the first song!)  

After the show, I made some new friends at the merch table and had some great conversations about the Surfrajettes and Black Widows. I got a signed photo of the Surfrajettes, met Abby Jo, chatted with Annie a bit, and had my photo taken with Nicole, the one member of the group I had neglected to get a photo with back in March. Once the lights went up at the VFW, I saw some fans were getting pictures with all four Surfrajettes, and I knew this was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, to have a photo with the whole group taken in decent lighting. I also purchased the Black Widows CD Kandi Korn, and Corinne graciously threw in a second CD and a Black Widows Koozie. If you’re not from the Midwest, you might not realize the vital importance of Koozies in keeping your beer or pop cold. This was a true act of friendship from one Midwesterner to another, so I’m quite grateful for the Koozie. I foolishly neglected to get my Black Widows CDs signed, so I’ll have to make up for that the next time I see them.  

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the Surfrajettes continue coming through the Twin Cities every six months or so, and hopefully they’ll have Black Widows along again too.