Hey, Osstralya, New Orleans will be in your neck of the woods at the end of February. The New Orleans Bingo! Show, that is, will perform with The Polyphonic Spree for Southern Comfort“s Australian Carnivale Tour, Feb. 17 28 at a number of locations on your island-continent-nation.
Often covered in colorful, flowing Jesus-gospel robes and a happy demeanor, the Spree reminds me of a cross between Heaven’s Gate and the Teletubbies conceived under the influence of grape KoolAid. Don’t drink it, Mr. The Turk, don’t drink it! D didn’t know who they were so went on a Googlaphonic Spree and unearthed this online gem, a remake of Nirvana’s Lithium. With sock puppets. Friend Mark wonders, “Maybe if Kurt had approached his work from this direction, he wouldn’t have blown his brains out?”
Shortly before Katrina, I scored some tickets to the David Bowie concert at the relatively intimate Saenger Theater. The Polyphonic Spree were opening.
Three minutes of that twee-twaddle and those cult robes and my friends and I beat cheeks for the bar.
As the PS wrapped their set, I caught the eye of a Saenger usher — an African-American woman about 55, who had the strangest expression on her face.
“What IS that?” I asked.
“Some gospel group?” she said, with dignified disdain.
All this is prelude to the fact that Bingo! can and will kick the Spree’s twee, self-conscious little saffron-robed asses. Go Bingo!
D needs a rest. (Florida in May)