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Biography
Taking their name from the character in Roald Dahl's children's novel Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Veruca Salt was formed by singers and guitarists Louise Post and Nina Gordon, who came together in 1993 as songwriting partners. They spent a year and a half working on material together before putting a full band together, recruiting drummer Jim Shapiro and bassist Steve Lack to play their first handful of shows around the Chicago indie rock scene. These shows got them signed to Minty Fresh Records mere months after they started playing live, and after a succesful first single in the form of “Seether/All Hail Me”, they were tapped by Courtney Love's band Hole to open for them on a run of huge US headline shows.
The band's debut album, September 1994's “American Thighs”, would eventually be certified Gold thanks to this exposure, and the band signed a major label deal with Geffen Records as a result. “Seether” was re-released shortly after the band signed with Geffen, and was received huge rotation on MTV and radio stations all over the country. After the release of their second album “Eight Arms To Hold You”, cracks began to appear on the band's surface, beginning with the departure of Shapiro shortly after the album's release. Far more dramatically, Gordon left the band in 1998, her relationship with Post having long since soured. Post continued the band to the point where she was the only remaining original member of the band, taking several different line-ups through the release of two further studio albums and two EP's.
The band ceased activity in 2007, before announcing in 2012 that they were on indefinite hiatus. Ironically enough, the band then announced that the original line up would be getting back together full-time exactly one year and one day after their hiatus announcement. The band released their fifth studio album “Ghost Notes” in 2015, and in all, the band have done the impossible and made it look easy. They've come back together after a decade and a half apart, and are just as vital and exciting as they ever were. With their best days yet to come over two decades after forming, Veruca Salt come highly recommended.
Live reviews
Somewhere in the mid 90's I got turned onto Veruca Salt and thank god I did! What ever happened to girl bands that freaking rock?! Well, after being a fan for several years, the girls finally had a tour date in my city, and I was all over it! Ticket bought within an hour of going on sale, and a good group of friends excited for the show! The show was in a club, average size, and none of us were really sure just how many people would turn out.
Veruca Salt had a lot of air play with the song Seether, and we just assumed that there would be a large crowd, but by show time, I would guess maybe 3500 people were there. Which in my opinion was perfect! I have always been a fan of club shows that are intimate and not overly crowded. So when the band hit the stage, the crowd erupted! No matter what anyone says about Veruca Salt, and its not often that I really do hear anything negative, these girls just know how to rock!
The stage set up was simple, no frills, just a drum kit, a banner and Veruca Salt kicking ass! The light show was great and the sound system was really incredible, somewhat mind numbing even, but isn't that what a rock show is all about!
The set lasted about 90 minutes and when it was over, I was so impressed with how good they sounded live and the energy they put out on stage! All in all a fantastic concert and I feel lucky that I got to see them live!
