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Catch Her on the Rebound |
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"This is not a drag queen pretending to be Laura Branigan", read the
e-mail from Homocorps, Dean Johnson's monthly queer punk showcase
at CBGB, advertising Saturday's show. "This is the REAL Laura Branigan
("Gloria", "Self Control") singing her greatest hits with a live band!"
And why not? According to Laurabranigan.com, "Laura is beholden to
the gay community." She's had some tough times lately: After she retired,
her husband died of cancer, her mother fell ill, and then, she told
Johnson in a recent interview in HX, she broke both hips in a wisteria-hanging
accident. Her only other recent gig was at the Mohegan Sun casino,
and while that audience was probably more respectful, it couldn't
have been warmer. Already loosened up by Johnson's wigstock rock crew
(the self-explanatory Indigo Etheridge; his own not-yet-ready-for-Don
Kirschner combo, Velvet Mafia; and a troupe of white-spandex-clad
Dazzle Dancers), the mostly homogeneous crowd acted excited when she
finally emerged from the club's seedy bowels and treated them to "The
Night Spanish Eddie Cashed It In." They perked up when she began working
her diva hand jive, striking totemic salutory poses later shamelessly
copied in every Whitesnake video. They tried to help her out with
the soundman (chanting, "Reverb! Reverb!") and waited patiently through
the sappy parts for the hits, which she delivered in minimalist arrangements
perhaps inspired by her days as a Leonard Cohen backup singer. They
chanted her name as she left the stage, although a few confused souls
called her "Gloria" and one wag yelled for "Dr. Laura!" Returning
to the stage for an encore, she apologized that she couldn't perform
her new single, "The Winner Takes It All" because "a piece of equipment
didn't arrive". Instead she plowed through "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina"
and Argentina played along, cheering just because she asked. Beauty,
they say, is in the eye of the beholder. By Josh Goldfein aus: Village Voice Week of March 13, 2002 |
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