November 14, 2006
Mercury Lounge, NYC

The shoulder-to-shoulder crowd at The Mercury Lounge was beginning to grow rowdy as they waited for The Detroit Cobras to take the stage. After a 45-minute  wait and some confused looks from her bandmates, who wandered on and off the stage, frontwoman Rachel Nagy emerged, visibly inebriated and ready to rock.

The band launched into “Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand,” and any worries that alcohol would hinder its set were gone; in fact it seemed to enhance it. They continued with a few more upbeat songs: “Cha Cha Twist” and “Bad Girl” before slowing things down with “Midnight Blues.” Nagy’s soulful voice was even more powerful live as she nursed her drink between verses. The set proceeded with the gospel influenced “You Don’t Knock,” Allen Toussaint’s “Mean Man,” “I’ll Keep Holding On,” and more soul and blues classics from artists like Irma Thomas, Leadbelly and Bobby Womack.

Although the majority of the set was covers of obscure blues, soul and gospel tunes, The Detroit Cobras are far from a cover band. Like the early Stones, the Cobras have gone right to the source and with their brand of garage rock, reinvigorated songs that sadly might have otherwise never been known to audiences today.

The chemistry between founding members Nagy and guitarist Mary Ramirez kept the crowd entertained as they baited a man in the front who claimed to be a virgin and exchanged some mimicked making-out between each other. The band’s current line-up, made up of fellow members of the Detroit rock scene, seemed happy to be along for the ride.

The band closed the set with an original, “Hot Dog (Watch Me Eat)” off of its latest release, Baby. The song typically breaks down with Nagy spelling out “Hot Dog,” but whatever was in that cup had curbed her spelling skills, but not her ability to delegate and she passed the chorus duties over to Ramirez. The band left the stage, and the crowd was left to wonder: would there be an encore? Or is Nagy already throwing punches at a bar down the street? Fortunately, that was not the case, and the Cobras returned with the moving “Cry On” and “Hey Sailor.”  

The Detroit Cobras came across as the type of band that challenges the audience to have as much fun as they’re having onstage, but at the same time they deliver musically. One moment you’re struggling to keep up with their energy, and then you’re struck by the soul and emotion they project. Now that’s rock n’ roll.  

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