Tuesday, November 13, 2007  7:02 pm 

Phobos Disco Cabaret

When Phobos slips behind the darkness of the shadow of Mars, Moon-goths, Spectres from Saturn’s rings, No-Wave Goblins of Venus and Ice gargoyles of Pluto converge on the white castle nestled between two deep craters. This castle has been here for millions of years, sending rhythmic pulses from it cavernous underground passages to those in the know who are tuned to its frequencies.

Round the back of the castle is a pristine green crystal and pink cushioned archway that leads into a long tunnel lined intermitently with red neon tubes that gradually get closer to each other as the room the tunnel leads to comes upon you. Dry ice hides all manner of pangalactical and subterranean travelling beings in this room, but as your eyes aclymatise to the hazy booze drenched atmosphere, you can make out glass palm trees, holographic table tops and backdrops to stages that twist and turn like living 3D lava lamps.

The collected bounty hunters and space merchants hush as the lights dim to blackness and a silhouette is backlit in red on the stage.

Bagarre - Dirty Love

Jo Cleary of Bagarre saunters to the edge of the stage as a lurid green light glows in her half-masked face and the champagne and cosmopoliton synths strike up. Fembots swing their limbs in an aerobisised style warping in and out of the floating lava background as the clicks and pops fill the club.Mechanoid snakes coil around Jo as a tale of filthy disco love is slurred to the crowd from glitter-flecked lips.

Next on the bill is Martha & The Muffins, who after having moderate success on Earth with alien new wave hit ‘Echo Beach’ have now relocated to Neptune.

Martha & The Muffins - These Dangerous Machines

From the balcony of the castle you can spy through binoculars this everso limited and exclusive performance. A vast desert of sand is interrupted by a large crater surrounded by four pristine white columns, each topped off with torches of dull green flame. Martha levitates on a hoverboard, suspended above the Sarlacc that Phobos authorities had imported from Tatooine, microphone in hand, silver holographic spacesuit wrapped around her pale frame. Ninja drummers defy gravity and latch onto the columns, mini drumkits in hand thumping out an insisent beat. The planets and moons bounce slightly in the night skies above.

labels >> Phobos, Sarlacc, cabaret, space