Kiki & Herb

---Yes. It is a little faggy. Their version of "I'm Not Waiting" beats S-K's, easy. Kinda makes the orig more fun to listen to.

They fake it so real they are beyond fake, a performance of utter heartbreak and, if not redemption through, at least the simple comfort of, enduring love so utterly convincing that whether or not it's ironic is completely beside the point. That only makes it more genuinely moving.

Love the live set, but can't imagine what it would be like to only hear it without having the experience of their show to map it to.

Note: If you've been on the ILX po-pomo thread, they may offer a sufficient answer.

here's exit music (for a film): http://s26.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1HBNSXBC9ZLUN11PSZGI8O35KT

OMG OMG OMG New Year's Eve show in SF 12/31!!11!!1!

(I'm sorely tempted by the SF show, even if I'll be the only straight guy in the room.)

I still treasure the story about how Kiki tried to be Noel Gallagher's groupie.. fucking best story told at a concert ever.

I played the live album's "Institutionalized" for a friend of mine who'd never heard them before, and didn't tip her off... and of course the setup is such that it just sounds like Kiki babbling about her familial relations at first, and then something about the general outline of what she's saying seems vaguely familiar, and before you know it, wham: "PUT ME IN AN INSTITUTION!" "INSTITUTIONALIZED!" My friend didn't stop laughing for about three minutes.

In contrast to gyps, I have the album but haven't even played the whole thing (maybe cuz I was at the show).

They probably do do best in an intimate venue, though, where there's a real threat that Kiki might fuck with you.

* Oh it was very very very great.

* THE CATTINESS from Kiki but I could go on. In great voice, Herb mighty fine, drinks and cigarettes, yay! Douglas very OTM upthread on the basics of the appeal and how it works out. The song about houses burning down at Christmas is my new favorite holiday number, whoever it's by.

* Quite a mellow date-heavy gay crowd -- uh duh, I realize. Much smooching in the row in front of us, plus the semi-Freddie Mercury-looking soccer fanatic I was chatting with during the break

* They indeed did their Mountain Goats cover "No Children." so brilliant. And "This Year" was playing during the mid-set break. AND an amazing version of Dan Fogelberg's "Same Old Lang Syne" which was done so relatively seriously that some characters in the crowd couldn't take it and were breaking down in laughter towards the end of it. "Crucify" by Tori Amos and "This Woman's Work" also get airings.

* Medleys of choice (all of which confirm that they and the Squirrels are not that far removed):

"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"/"Smells Like Teen Spirit"/"Suicide is Painless"/"Miss World"

"The Little Drummer Boy"/"Boys Don't Cry" (sung by Herb)

"Take Your Mama"/"When the Levee Breaks"/"When the Saints Come Marching In"/"The House of the Rising Sun"

and my jaw-dropping favorite:

"Forever Young" by Alphaville immediately into "If You Were Born Today" by Low, both delivered with a minimum of screaming histrionics (but not completely lacking in them, of course) and sounding desperately epically beautiful as a result

* Encore: so dali, Matos and I all hear this song with, it turns out, these lyrics:

They say it fades if you let it,
love was made to forget it.
I carved your name across my eyelids,
you pray for rain I pray for blindness.

If you still want me, please forgive me,
the crown of love has fallen from me.
If you still want me, please forgive me,
because the spark is not within me.

I snuffed it out before my mom walked in my bedroom.

The only thing that you keep changin’
is your name, my love keeps growin’
still the same, just like a cancer,
and you won’t give me a straight answer!

If you still want me, please forgive me,
the crown of love has fallen from me.
If you still want me please forgive me
because your hands are not upon me.

I shrugged them off before my mom walked in my bedroom.

The pains of love, and they keep growin’,
in my heart there’s flowers growin’
on the grave of our old love,
since you gave me a straight answer.

If you still want me, please forgive me,
the crown of love is not upon me
If you still want me, please forgive me,
cause this crown is not within me.
it’s not within me, it’s not within me.

You gotta be the one,
you gotta be the way,
your name is the only word that I can say

You gotta be the one,
you gotta be the way,
your name is the only word,
the only word that I can say!

None of us immediately recognize it, the performance is absolutely excellent but the sheer awful awkwardness of some of the lyrics provokes laughter and we were thinking it was intentionally bad. Me to myself -- "Sounds like a My Chemical Romance lyric, has the dumb teenage angst down but the performance of the song makes it a lot better."

Afterwards in lobby with dali and Matos: "So I'm guessing what that song might be, maybe a My Chemical Romance song."

*various theories abound, a couple of Matos's friends join us*

Friend says something to Matos.

Matos: "It's an Arcade Fire song?"

Me: "THE ARCADE FIRE?!?"

The rest of the evening is partially spent in abuse from me in particular about how incredibly fucking lame the Arcade Fire is. But yes, Kiki and Herb made them sound good. Figures.

"THANK YOU, Ladies and Gentlemen. If I could love, I would love you ALL! :D "

Kiki > Margaret Cho, f'rinstance.

My sister and I once absolutely broke down and cried like a funeral when Kiki sang "Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You?" by Stevie Nicks, and I just realized on Friday night (at the C@n@st@ show) that K&H's version of "Ground Control to Major Tom" is the only one I know. But sometimes she's better in recollection than in the moment of -- esp after the smoking ban there were times when I didn't quite know what to do with myself in the middle of their act. But OH the highs are simply the highest!

overheard during intermission:
Man on date: [brightly] What do you think?
Woman on date: [not brightly] I don't like this. At all.
[several amazingly awkward moments ensue]

"It's a comedy show, honey!"

My wife just saw them last night and said they were great, and that the show adds a bit more to the Kiki mythology (continuing on from the "immortal cow"/"placenta-of-Jesus" story she's told at earlier Xmas shows). Also notable: they were originally supposed to play here in Portland earlier this month, but the show got postponed... because THEY WERE PLAYING ELTON JOHN'S BACHELOR PARTY. Wow.

Carnegie Hall again in December as well.

live DVD available Jan. 2:

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/113510.html

Funny thing was I saw Kiki introduce Borts Minorts at a show in SF this past Saturday. Kiki was great, Borts Minorts was not.

Variety review of Wed night @Carnegie Hall (I skipped):

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117935649.html

"If there's a sniper in the audience, I ask only that you kill me now," pleaded Kiki. "Don't make me go through this whole show just to shoot me later."

wtf, identifying "If You Were Born Today" as a Jimmy Eat World song?

Boy, I would've loved to have seen that.

wtf, identifying "If You Were Born Today" as a Jimmy Eat World song?

Alan Sparhawk somewhere goes NOOOOOO

I saw them at the Opera House in Sydney for so cheap (esp. considering the insane price of tickets for them in SF the last time around), but strangely the show was almost EXACTLY the same as the one I saw New Year's Eve two years ago.

What little I've heard, I've liked. So where do I start if I want to hear more?

profile in nymag - http://nymag.com/print/?/arts/popmusic/features/justin-bond-2011-5/

just downloaded dendrophile, hadn't heard anything about it. it seems good. different thing than k&h, but good songs and s/he sounds great.

Kiki'll be having some fun this weekend:

http://gawker.com/5875978/introducing-your-guest-golden-globes-tweeter-justin-vivian-bond

Justin is such a fucking rock star.
I see Kenny perform at least once a month.

going to see justin bond @ REDCAT tonight, first time ever! i'm excited

Justin Vivian Bond begins a yearlong 'retro' at Joe's Pub!

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/mx-justin-vivian-bond-returns-to-joes-pub-with-tranniversary-triumph-7585114

forks, when yer feelin better maybe we could go see the Julie London thing.

spring reunion in NYC

http://m.playbill.com/mobile/news/article/kiki-and-herb-announce-spring-reunion-at-the-public-363221

joe's pub is having a nightly lottery for the shows if yer desperate

gonna catch one of these, pretty hyped

kenny lookin all moses

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/25/kiki-and-herb-reunite

Kiki sez

"The neoliberals vs. the neofascists—I'm just happy that I've lived to see this spectacular bipolar moment."

a 2016 show free online for a few weeks

https://publictheater.org/productions/season/fall-2020/kiki--herb-seeking-asylum/

Ah jeez, shoulda revived this thread earlier for their new tour! I think most of the shows have already most sold out on presale. (Got my SF tix just now, yay.)

It's back!

https://kikiandherbwilldieforyou.bandcamp.com/album/do-you-hear-what-we-hear

And they're back!

https://linktr.ee/kikiherb

(The tour last year was a damn treat.)