A Karen Black Easter

Who better to spend Easter with than Kembra Pfahler, pioneer of the Egg Baptism. What’s an Egg Baptism you ask? It’s a performance piece in which the lead singer of the band The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black stands on her head while women dressed like ghoulish bunnies hop about and smash paint filled eggs on her vulva. And you thought crucifixion was hard on the body.

Though sadly nobody was baptized at the Santos Party House show, TVHKB played a solid hour of classics like Neighborachie, Ghost Hole and Underwear Drawer during which Kembra and her fright-wigged friends tossed underwear and thongs at the audience. The band also played some new material including the thundering “Fuck Island.”

The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black was started in 1990 by Kembra Pfahler and partner Samoa as a way to incorporate music into their performance art pieces and films. Kembra’s stage wear, or lack thereof, mixed with their campy horror theatrics and backed by a legitimate punk band made them a favorite of the downtown club scene for the past 20 years. Fans of TVHKB wil be pleased to know they are planning on releasing a new album sometime in the near future.