music
Still Hot
Aleister Crowley: Renegade Egg-Layer
comic Rick Shapiro
When the cut-line for an event is “no taboo
left unturned,” there’s not a lot to be said for
attempting to judge the organizers or
performers because they seriously do not give
a fuck what you think. On its ghastly and
somewhat disconcerting surface, WTF Fest
looks something akin to Insane Clown Posse’s
Juggalo gathering — or maybe Burning Man on
adrenochrome — but diving beneath a thin
veneer of hardcore, tattooed conspiracy
theorists, porn-stars and occultists, it’s clear
that the festival is actually themed expertly as
a place for individuality, expression and artistic
collaboration to run rampant, even if there is a
somewhat Satanic element to practically every
single performance billed.
Besides a smattering of Aleister Crowley
reminiscense and freaky costumes, the bill for
WTF Fest is laced with delicate intrigue. The
event starts out with the musical stylings of
singer-songwriter acts such as Esmerelda
Strange and Lonnie D. Wages, and from there
it gets a whole lot crazier: Take, for instance,
the presence of adult-film star Ruby LaRocca,
who starred in a movie called Orgasm Torture
in Satan’s Rape Clinic, among others. Sounds
like a charming lass, no? Or Rick Shapiro — the
NYC comic that’s billed as an amalgam of great
comedians and artists from the last 50 years.
There is also great emphasis placed upon
femininity and equality at WTF Fest.
Performance artist and women’s rights activist
Ugly Shyla graces the bill, and it’s pretty much
guaranteed to be a bloodbath. To be honest, I’m
not certain whether “bloodbath” will end up
being a literal description or not, so if you have
a weak stomach you might want to skip that
one.
At its core WTF Fest is not just a place for
people to hang out and talk about Satan, the
occult or revolutionary activism; it’s also a
place for safety in numbers and oneness to
take hold. It’s about a collective soul and
consciousness, a living, breathing entity of
togetherness that terrifies people at its
surface, but inside is a gooey ball of love and
devil horns. It’s like a Cadbury egg laid by
Aleister Crowley, and it’s not as bad as it looks
— even if it does make you say “what the fuck”
every once in a while.
WTF Fest starts 8:30 pm Sunday, April 22, at
Sam Bond’s; $6 adv., $10 door. — Andy Valentine
PHOTO BY SARAH SITKIN
You know that feeling you got when your grandma yelled
at you? That mix of shock and reverence-fueled obedience?
That’s how it feels to watch Jamaican reggae legend Norma
Fraser perform. She is so dedicated to making the audience
have a good time that she literally gives no other choice. That
might not sound like the recipe for success, but it works.
Fraser’s style is funky and laid back, pairing reggae beats with
covers of popular songs like “Respect” and “The First Cut is
the Deepest.” It’s nearly impossible not to get down to the
beat and sing along, and for someone whose peers and
influences left the music scene long ago, Fraser is still
overwhelmingly energetic. It might be easy to feel skeptical
about a 60-plus-year-old woman who is proclaiming herself
Hot Again! but Fraser is no small-time player.
She started her recording career in Jamaica, recording at
Studio One with artists like Bob Marley and the Wailers and
The Skatalites. The song “We’ll Be Lovers,” which she recorded
with Lord Creator in 1961, stayed at number one on the
Jamaican Top 100 for more than a year. It has also been
rumored that she taught Rita Marley how to sing, and she
may have talked Rita into marrying Bob.
Fraser took a two-decade break from music, during which
she got a master’s degree and geared up to come back in ‘94
to release Hot Again! She is currently on the road with the
Skatalites. “It’s going well,” she says, “most of the shows have
been sold out.”
Norma Fraser plays 8 pm Wednesday, April 25, at WOW
Hall; $12 adv., $15 door. — Hailey Chamberlain
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EUGENE WEEKLY
APRIL 19, 2012 33