NYC Scene Report – Soraia, Power Trash, & K!lly !dol

This week’s NYC Scene Report features three rock acts – Soraia, Power Trash, and K!lly !dol – all of whom I discovered while concert hopping in the city.

* This past November I was at Bowery Electric to see Jessie Wagner (who was awesome) as part of a four band bill. Soraia was the final act of the night, and I couldn’t take my eyes, or ears, off the face-meltingly great Philadelphia-based rock band.

Soraia is led by frontwoman ZouZou Mansour, who is pure rock n roll to the point where you aren’t sure if you should be attracted to her, or scared of her … and somehow the latter leads to even more of the former.

The band also has an NYC connection – guitarist Mike Dudolevitch. You might recognize Dudolevitch from The Nuclears, or our fantastic Stacking The Deck interview from a few years ago. He also has a new project named Bayaz. They’re a great rock band I think you’re going to hear a lot from this year.

Getting back to Soraia, I’d heard some of their music before, but seeing them live was the WOW moment. The next time they hit the city I absolutely plan on being in the crowd again, rockin’ out, and I won’t be “Tight-Lipped” about it.

* Power Trash is a band I discovered in a kind of unusual way. The night was October 14th of 2021 – the night before my 43rd birthday. I’d bought a ticket to see a buddy of mine who was supposed to come in from L.A. to perform at Arlene’s Grocery. Another band I knew, and liked, was on the four band bill, as well.

Well, one thing led to another, my buddy had to cancel his tour, and then one by one all the other bands on the bill dropped out, and new bands appeared in their place.

I still had my ticket, and I love discovering new music, so I hit the city with an open mind, and open ears.

Power Trash was one of the bands on the new lineup for the night, and I met them before the show at the bar. Little did I know at the time I’d be blown away by their live set.

An NYC-based rock band with killer guitar work, and a wild lead singer, Power Trash is all power, no trash, and I can’t wait to see them again. Discoveries like Power Trash are why I love going to indie music shows.

* K!lly !dol may be hard on your spellcheck, but he certainly isn’t hard on the ears. I discovered the NYC-based rocker when he led off an amazing night of music at Arlene’s Grocery back in November. The show was headlined by Micky James (you can read a review of his fantastic performance here), and also included Colorado-based band Wildermiss, who were great, as well.

There’s a deeply personal nature to K!lly !dol’s lyrics, and he skillfully makes the feelings expressed in them remarkably relatable. Delivering those lyrics with gravelly, emotion-filled vocals, and surrounded by a great rock band, the result on that November night was a memorable performance that made quite a few folks who were there to see other artists on the bill take notice – including me!

I don’t know when K!lly !dol will be performing in NYC next, but when I find out, I’m gonna try my best to be there.

For more of the best of NYC’s indie music scene, come back next Wednesday, and check out the archives for previous columns.