The Blight    

See the photos here.

See the photos here.

Tuesday saw the trunk show at the local clothing store, 5 & Diamond, whose high couture custom fashions are lusted after by many (not excluding your humble narrator). Pictured above are Juniper and Buddhamonkey of Steamtrunk fame and also occasional performers with Vau de Vire. Also included in this set are designs from Wild Card, bits and pieces of which I wear on a frequent basis…

See the gallery here.

The delightful Gibbous Fashions brought me in to cover their vignette at the Stellar Fashion Show Awards at the Phoenix Hotel | Bambuddha Lounge yesterday in San Francisco, hosted by Del Geronimo and sponsored by Citizen Citizen, SF Station, FlavorPill and City Model Management. [SFFashionShowAwards website]

See the photos here.

Last night saw an interesting variety of acts at our neighborhood haunt — opening was Nezzy Iddy (pic), with haunting ethereal vocals over dark ambient soundscapes; followed by Vinsantos (pic) and his casket piano and Randy Odell (from Jill Tracy and the Malcontent Orchestra) on percussion joined by Kitten on the Keys. Things got stranger with New Thrill Parade (pic), which could best be described as a goth hillbilly clown animal freakshow. The music was good, too.

Finally, we had the headliners, 45 Grave (pic) — though suffering from Wednesday night pumpkin-o’clock attrition (that’s midnight for those of you who don’t have day-jobs) — they still had the crowd moshing and rocked out.

See the photos here!

Vau de Vire Society, Gooferman and Fou Fou Ha!, joined by our darling friends Cirque Berzerk and the Wandering Marionettes, were brought in to perform at the Electric Daisy Carnival in downtown Los Angeles. We had been warned: it was candy raver central, with music so loud it hurt. I thought that demographic had died a decade ago, but alas: a bastion of plush rainbowbright remains amongst the fifteen-year-olds in the arid southron lands of this fair state. Who knew?

For those who aren’t familiar with the term, please see Wikipedia’s candy raver entry. Know that we hid in performer areas as much as possible and no, I took no photos of them (potential legality issues aside (plus, if their mothers saw what they were wearing…)).

UPDATE: From Mike “Vau de Vire” –

Rumor has it that the Electric Daisy Carnival had 75K attendees which made it the largest attended non-sporting event in LA since 1930 and largest rave in LA history.  The producers said, as they always do, that VdV was the highlight of their event.

Photos here.

Last weekend found us in Los Angeles, at an artist warehouse complex known as the Brewery. The itinerary was only to engage in varying degrees of jackassery with clowns, mostly of the Cirque Berzerk variety. In this we were successful, though the Mutaytor is fired for not showing up.

It is likely that we return late next month for the big Cirque Berzerk show Beneath — more info on that later.

See the photos here!

Trash-master Shrine held his Burning Man temple fundraiser, Basura Sagrada, at the DNA Lounge last Thursday. Continuing the tradition started by David Best in 2000, Shrine is undertaking the mighty task of providing Burning Man with its temple. In 2007 he brought the Tasseograph Trash Tea Temple (pictured here and here) which has also made appearances at Yuri’s Night and Lightning in a Bottle.

Entertainment this eve included Bad Unkl Sista, donning a long strip of cloth then painted live by Shrine; performances by Vau de Vire Society and Lucent Dossier Vaudeville Cirque; a silent auction of many lovely pieces of artwork — paintings, tables, suitcases, clothes and jewelry; and a full-sized painting made live by Shrine.

The chanteuse Jill Tracy brought me in to shoot her CD release party for her latest album, the Bittersweet Constrain. Joined by the entire Malcontent Orchestra — including Paul Mercer on violin, Erica Mulkey (Unwoman) on cello, Daniel Fabricant on bass, Randall Odell on percussion, Josh Brown on sitar, 12-stringed chapman stick player Alex Nahas, guitarist Matty Rue, and playing Jill’s own piano, Michael McIntosh — dark waltzes and murderous ballads were the fare that evening. It was deliciously funereal and marvelously wicked.

Here are the photos.

See the photos here!

Last night was the fundraiser to bring the Thunderdome to Burning Man — yes, that one straight out of Mad Max. There were dome fights (with foam bats (and fists) instead of knives), performances, DJs, drinks, flame and attitude.

See the photos here!

San Francisco’s much loved Carnival came out of hiatus last Friday for the latest installment of Bohemian Carnival, that raucous and sexy alternative to ZinZanni’s (since we won’t serve you dinner! (though the DNA Lounge will)).

Besides your hosts Vau de Vire Society and Gooferman, performances by Extra Action Marching Band, Blaze, Fou Fou Ha!, that silly German Torsten (an absolute riot), and the Cowboy Derby Girls rocked the night.

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Coming up…

This Saturday, the Death Guild Thunderdome fundraiser;

next Wednesday,

Jill Tracy’s CD release party at the DNA Lounge;

and next Thursday,

Basura Sagrada, the fundraiser for the Burning Man temple (also at the DNA Lounge).