This show was pretty lame. We played for a few of my New York friends and whatever friends of ours drove up from Philadelphia. It was a Sunday- it was raining- I should have known better. Let’s see –highlights… Well- there was a delightful opening act –a young lady who went by the name of Dust DeDayne.
It was pretty obvious from the get-go that she was a stripper-turned-goth singer.
She took the stage after painstakingly setting up a table of candles (blood red- but of course!) and a fake (gosh- I hope it was fake!) skull that had mechanical flowers that oscillated around it. The pre-recorded CD that she sang to was an atrocious blend of Transvision Vamp and Covenant. Her voice was pretty hard to endure which was only amplified by the moments where I accidentally understood the lyrics. You know the stuff- the kind of poetry that high school Hot Topic goth-girls scribble under their pencil still-life drawings of their boots, an antique candleholder, a stuffed animal (most likely Jack Skellington), and NIN CD. After almost every song she would exclaim that it was a true story-hmmm- that must mean that she grew up without loving, understanding parents and got hurt by some shithead boyfriend- just like everyone else. Though the music portion of the program was repulsive- man, did she have a body and knew how to move it. And her dye-job was definitely top-notch. I admit –it was very difficult to watch her perform without imagining her in a smut film that co-starred me. The climax of the set was when she did a cover of the Adam Ant classic- ‘Strip”. And she did just that. The tension was beautiful. No one knew whether to laugh, cry, be aroused, feel sad for humanity, or get naked as well. Not the kind of thing that normally happens at a yuppie-bar-turned-gothic-dance-party, I guess. I can’t really say who the real idiot was in this situation because a month later we found out that she was going to perform again- and god help me- I seriously debated driving up for it. Me and my stupid addiction for fourth-rate entertainment- I should seek help.

-Darren