Melissa Auf Der Mar, The Knitting Factory

I’m not one prone to moments of flat-out schoolgirl-like fandom at rock shows. I have songs I adore and that I’ll lose my shit to when played live, and I’ll scream for those if it seems appropriate (so, basically not at a Patti Smith show). But, really, unless it’s Tori Amos, I’m not going to use every fiber of my being (and every fiber in my larynx-do larynxes have fibers? Probably) to shred my voice with incessant “I love you”s to rock stars onstage at concerts. They’re fucking rock stars, remember-we pay them to love us. In the old days, that was called prostitution.

Not even one full song into Melissa Auf Der Maur’s triumphant, bombastic tempest of a show at Brooklyn’s Knitting Factory, though, and I heard the words “I love you” coming out my mouth over and over again, more than I’ve probably ever used them in my entire life (sorry to all my exes). Tall, gorgeous, a force of fucking rock and-roll nature, MADM and her flawless flank of two guitarists and one of the tightest rock drummer’s I’ve ever seen melted faces and absolutely rocked out harder than anyone, or anything, I’ve ever seen-and I’ve fucking lived through tornadoes.

Playing a handful of songs from her incredible self-titled debut album (including, shockingly, the so-prog-it-hurts album closer “I Need I Want I Will”) and a few tunes from her forthcoming “Out Of Our Minds” project, Melissa Auf Der Maur shook the walls of the Knitting Factory and left me rattled and breathless-gasping for air, in fact, when, three songs into her set, my (apparently still continuing) cries of “I FUCKING LOVE YOU” were met with a grin and an “I fucking love you, too!” from Melissa.

And then…and then. And then, from nowhere, “Followed The Waves” exploded into the venue. I could continue to use weather metaphors to describe how this song comes across live-tidal wave, hurricane, etc-but, to save us all the time, I’ll just say the song, recorded, is one of the strongest modern rock singles in recent memory. Live? Live, “Followed The Waves” eats children, breaks glass, summons demons from hell, leaves lipstick on the collar and bite marks on the neck. Live, Melissa Auf Der Maur earned the middle name of “Fucking Rock”. Henceforth, she shall be called Melissa Fucking Rock Auf Der Maur.