Death Valley Girls at TV Eye (photo by Kate Hoos)
I had the pleasure of seeing Death Valley Girls for the first time at St. Vitus in August 2019, and it was electric. Pandemic living being what it is, I haven’t had the chance to see them again until last Thursday’s show at TV Eye, with Cumgirl8 starting off the night. Both bands were in the mood to celebrate and seemed truly thrilled to be sharing a stage. The crowd was transported by the raucous love fest of it all.
I had heard some of Cumgirl8’s music before, but seeing them live is essential for the full experience of what they’re creating. The self-described “sex-positive alien amoeba entity” were a feast for the eyes, sporting outfits that offered a mix of lingerie, bikinis, leather pants, and very high heels. When they’re not rocking out, these multi-talented superwomen design their own club-inspired fashion line, recently featured in Vogue. So there you go! Veronika Vilim (on guitar) and Lida Fox (bass) are also models, and the whole band (including Chase Lombardo on drums and Avishag “Avi” Cohen Rodrigues on guitar) have special projects galore: a webseries, other bands, activism, you name it! It’s obvious Cumgirl8 is more than a band—they are punk rock meets very sexy performance art meets multimedia tycoonery, and all of it is infectious fun. The crowd at TV Eye were falling down while dancing and trying to get a good shot of the action on their phones. By the end of their last song, “I Wanna Be,” the band piled on top of each other, a Jenga-like structure of limbs and alluring chaos.
All of that might’ve been a tough act to follow, but not for Death Valley Girls. TV Eye’s signature velvety red stage curtains parted again, as guitarist Larry Schemel and drummer Rikki Styxx began to stir up a spell of driving beats and noise, while singer/guitarist/keyboardist Bonnie Bloomgarden and bassist Sammy Westervelt clung to one another, turning upstage to watch Styxx begin the magic with her drums. I remember this moment of embrace and centering from Bloomgarden and the band back in 2019 as well. Death Valley Girls shows have a vibe of ritual about them, and if you’re in the room, you will be intoxicated by the otherworldly alchemy of their music.
Fittingly, Bloomgarden wore a dress printed with what seemed like old movie posters about aliens. I only own one Death Valley Girls album (their most recent full-length release) Under the Spell of Joy, which I adore, but strangely songs from that record were missing from their set. But no matter, Bloomgarden and company shook me into a trance anyway, with a mix of songs from older albums and newer material. Bloomgarden and Westervelt fell to their knees at one point, drifting into paroxysms of rock calling to extraterrestrial visitors. Bloomgarden also leapt off the stage near the end of the set to get closer to as many people in the crowd as she could, hugging many people and singing right into the faces of her fans, who sang along in adoration, like believers at a tent revival.
Hopping back on stage, Bloomgarden saw the women of Cumgirl8 dancing in the wings, and she beckoned to them. Suddenly the stage held both bands, the Cumgirl8ers jumping around like they were possessed as DVG kept on with the relentless drive of their frenzied music. My only complaint was that it was over too soon! Death Valley Girls left me wanting more…hopefully they will be back in NYC pretty damn quick, and maybe their friends Cumgirl8 will share the stage with them again.
Scroll down for pics of the show (photos by Kate Hoos)
CUMGIRL8
DEATH VALLEY GIRLS
