Katie Stelmanis has the voice of an angel. Aside from having a Facebook fan page that says it in print, with hundreds of followers who agree, it’s just true. It is. Katie and her band, which is Carmen Elle on guitar and back ground vocals, and Maya Postepski on drums, opened for Fucked Up at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple on Thursday and were able to turn a crowd of ruffians into instant new fans.
The setting for the show was dreamy in itself, as the Brooklyn Masonic Temple’s interior and exterior looks like a place were Ren Faire inspired weddings would take place. Just a a few dozen people were scattered around the main floor and balcony area when the doors opened at a little after 7pm, and Katie herself was a visible presence, flitting around and getting things organized while wearing a very pink shirt. There’s something about the way Katie looks and dresses that reminds me of the original Becky character from Roseanne. If you can get that image in your head. And while there is a little nerve being tugged in the back of my head as I type this that’s telling me how lame it is to write about a band comprised 100% of women, and then go into detail about how they look and what they’re wearing, I am painting this picture for you so that you understand that hearing Katie’s voice come out of Katie’s body is an amazingly pleasurable shock to the system; a punch-packing contrast that, after the first few notes, caused a room of chattering Fucked Up fans to snap to attention and not avert their eyes from the stage for the entirety of her set. In summation: Katie Stelmanis is a lion’s roar coming out of a little baby kitten in a basket.
To describe Katie’s sound is somewhat difficult to do. She is dramatic, dark, moody, soothing, and oddly enough, danceable at times. I would suggest checking her out for yourself the next time she plays in your area, and by listening to her songs posted here:
http://www.myspace.com/katiestelmanis
