There are still two drops of blood on my shoe. I’m pretty sure it’s sugar water mixed with food coloring, but they’re still there. It’s a small reminder of the night of debauchery I witnessed at The Underground on Saturday night. While plenty of people were wearing green around Uptown that night, there group at the AvidXchange Music Factory was a different crowd altogether, wearing latex and leather for Lords of Acid’s Pretty in Kink Tour stop.
A lineup stacked with some of erotic rock’s finest performers kicked off with Gabriel and the Apocalypse, who made the most of a cramped stage. Their 30-minute set was followed by the bumping and grinding of modern burlesque group Little Miss Nasty. After getting the crowd riled up, The Genitorturers brought their own erotic extravaganza to the stage. From scantily clad singer Gen — her outfit complete with a strap-on – to a man swinging from the rafters by hooks in his skin while being whipped by a dominatrix, the band’s set was a feast for the eyes and ears. That blood on my shoes — and jeans and camera lens — came from man who jabbed a fake syringe in his arm so blood could shoot out in a theatrical display.
Orgy had the night’s only straight-forward rock set, which included a brief call-and-response tribute to recently deceased Prodigy singer Keith Flint. A crowd yelling “Smack my bitch up!” felt appropriate given the BDSM atmosphere of the performances. Another set by Little Miss Nasty — who performs their sex-driven choreographed dances to music by Nine Inch Nails, Peaches and Slipknot — got even louder applause the second time around.
Lords of Acid provided the climax for the night with a set that teetered between industrial rock and electronic dance grooves. Their set balanced new songs with older fan favorites while original member Praga Khan kept the energy level up. Singer Marieke Bresseleers, who’s 27 years old, wasn’t even born when the group’s kinky single, “I Sit on Acid,” debuted, but her vocal power drove through every song. She even found time to pull an audience member on stage for a little one-on-one dom/sub time.
The entire night felt more like an erotic festival than a simple concert and there’s little doubt the crowd left satisfied.
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