Candy Warpop and Tiger Sex Make Album Release Performance Art
By: Michael M. Humel
Editor-in-Chief
Candy Warpop celebrated the release of their new album Transdecadence at Backstage Bar and Billiards on Thursday August 15th. A guitar player named Mercy Music and new band Tiger Sex helped celebrate with sets of their own. In between bands sideshow performer Jen O. Cide came out and entertained the crowd.
The first act Jenn O. Cide carried out was eating glass on stage. While watching this I assumed she would have cut herself. However, she was not done yet. The following time she poured glass on the stage and let an audience member (Cactus head bouncer of the Double Down Saloon,) step on her head while it lay on shards of glass. The final time she came out it was with a staple gun and she asked audience members to give her paper money and she proceeded to staple the one, five, ten and twenty dollar bills on her legs, arms and breasts. She even let the audience members get in on the act and staple the bills to her. Being next to women stapling dollar bills to another woman’s body and seeing the look of fear in their eyes was morbidly exciting and fun. Mercy Music was a guitarist and singer/songwriter. I could see his music developing into something I would listen to on the radio because of how radio friendly and catchy his songs seem to be. I enjoyed parts of his performance. However, it was not memorable because while he was singing his faster songs you could tell his voice was straining.
I have seen Tiger Sex play two shows and this night was definitely the better of the two shows. Since the last time I saw the band they got themselves a new bass player. The guitar player Kei’s set that night was shredding. The band has only been in existence for a few months and already they have almost enough material for a first album. The muscle of their music is hard rock and punk with a skeleton of melodies. Kelly TigerSex morphs into a different person when she is on stage. She dances seductively, crawls on the floor, moshes with the audience and uses the microphone stand as a metaphor for sexual innuendo. She has the ability to project her voice in a loud, powerful scream as well as a soft blues whisper. “Monday Morning Blues” an original composition showed more diversity within the band. As the show went on the audience began moshing and the band played more punk. Toward the end of the show they played a cover of “Wanna be your dog” by The Stooges, while Amy Pate lead singer of Candy Warpop walked one of the audience members around on a leash while he was dancing. I liked the way two bands could be interactive within each others show.
On a stage full of machine created smoke Candy Warpop appeared. Amy Pate was wearing a shirt, tie and ripped stockings. She strutted on stage with a collapsible top hat opened it and glitter popped out like a magic trick. She looked at her audience giving the illusion of eye contact even though the smoke and the lights probably made that impossible. Her strong stage presence was still visible. You could see the emotions of anger and desire in her face as she performed. Her voice was sexy, sultry and at times haunting. The only wish I had was that she danced more while on stage. She did get down into the audience toward the end of the show. Guitar player Joshua Chevere Cohen and bassist Jonas Woolverton came out in dresses, masks and veils. This element of performance art reminded me of bands like Slipknot and Marilyn Manson.
The first time I saw Anisa Marie I was surprised at how tiny she was. When I heard her play I was again surprised at how big her sound was. Her drum work on “Locusts and Birds” and “Transdecadence(Inhale/Exhale)” was heart pounding and throbbing. The guitar playing of Joshua Chevere Cohen was loud, innovative and at times freestyle. He placed a screwdriver in between the strings of his guitar and when he hit the top of it a wave of electric distortion came over the crowd. At the end of one of the bands songs Joshua was lightly banging the strings of his guitar on stage creating a low rumble emanating from everywhere. He even played his guitar with his mouth and behind his back. Katie Delaria came out as a special guest and played cello on “Residue of Change” and “Severe Weather Warning.”
The visual performances of Tiger Sex and Candy Warpop added significantly to the music. I am looking forward to seeing these bands at more shows.
Culture of the Senses 
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