10/17/2019
Madame Mayhem @ The Back Bar
Janesville, WI

There is a simple beauty in showing up to watch the others on a bill. Not just the headliners. Sometimes you will find hidden gems. This is how I discovered the ever so powerful vocal chords of Madame Mayhem. She was direct support for Adelita’s Way that night. Frankly, I was blown away at the time. Since that show I have jammed her “Ready For Me” album numerous times. It holds up as a one of the better albums I have bought within the last year or so. This is a huge reason I was excited for her to come back and play in the area again.  

The Back Bar is a small biker bar that is known for its hard rock and heavy metal gigs. Inside is a long and wide stage giving the artists room to roam. The Madame Mayhem entourage took full advantage of that. Madame Mayhem(Natalie Cohen) herself comes out onto the stage decked out in all black leather and lace with a studded jacket over top. She owns the all black look. She maybe short in stature, but she exudes an impressive aura of confidence. It is well earned after putting in years of work to fine tune her craft. The extensively trained musician commands attention the moment she enters from stage right. With a bright addictive smile she glares across the room. When the first note is strummed she unleashed one of many hair flips on the evening. From there she dances and bounces every square inch of the stage. Showing precise control of her dynamic vocal range you feel every word, note and emotion exuding from her. Lyrically, she expresses a lot about love, loss and life in general. Her voice fills the venue. She is so strong vocally it even drowns the instruments out at times. You cannot help, but enjoy the show. The banter and engagement in between the songs gave the audience multiple memorable moments for each individual there in attendance. All in all, the entire set was all wrapped into a very tight 40 minute set. They even threw in an Audioslave cover(Cochise) which was so freaking good I actually loaded it up on my playlist after the show.

Madame Mayhem’s backing band are extremely tight and in sync throughout. Extremely slick instrumentally as well. They are not a group that simply stand around. In their own right they demand attention with the same tenacity and resolve as their front woman. They move freely around the stage making it known they are simply not just any backing band. They force you feel every riff, note and chorus. 

Overall, I firmly believe you will be hearing more from Madame Mayhem in the near future. After the show is completed, she runs her merchandise stand. Once again she is amazingly approachable and kind to everyone. Giving out hugs and hand shakes. I brought one of the albums she sold me at the previous show to have signed. There was no issue with having that done. We chatted a few moments and I moved out of the way for others. These are the things some artists forget to do once they get some sort of success. This along with relentless touring and banging songs, there is no doubt it is only a matter of time before the country knows who she is. When she comes back through I will for sure be there again.
3
3 Best Songs:
1. War You Started. The song is performed at the top of the set list with such an intensity and vigor there was nothing to be skeptical about for the rest of the evening. The lyrical content and her pipes mesh so well that your just body moves and sways on instinct alone. It is a perfect lead song.
2. Broken. This is her current single. An absolute masterpiece that puts her vocals out there on full display. It is also backed with some unique guitar pieces. The tune is extremely fun to hear live. Especially after having spun it dozens of times at home.
3. So Wrong. It is simply a strong song. On stage this song was performed to perfection. Having Madame Mayhem out front and center singing ever so passionately into the microphone on a simple stand. It was rather impressive. You just felt empathetic to the story put out there. 

Setlist:

War You Started
Stand Up
Innocent
Breaking Down
Broken
Left For Dead
Cochise(Audioslave Cover)
I Am More
Cruel Heart
So Wrong
Monster