In an act of mass catharsis, the University community will slip and slide across campus in an effort to ease into Winter Break with all the subtlety of an anvil falling from the sky. On your car. Right before you’re about to drive home.
While I’m not not condoning run-of-the-mill “school is over!” parties/bar crawls, you have at least one killer opportunity to pencil into your schedule. It involves zombies. Clown zombies. And a burlesque troop. Fire spinning, too.
This Friday, The Blind Pig will host “Zombie Carnival Night,” and it’s every bit as titillating as its name implies. It will consist of three bands and three carnival acts, and once it gets started at 10 p.m. (which is sometimes Blind Pig-speak for 11ish), there will barely be a moment to reorient yourself. No breaks are planned.
On paper, the show promises to be awesome – the bat-shit crazy kind. But it’s also an interesting slice of punk music and carnival culture, two things you might not realize Ann Arbor has a firm stake in, even if you stumbled on those anonymous fire spinners in Kerrytown over the semesters.
Former Ann Arbor punk mainstay The Teeth is back in its reincarnated form as Paper Mice. The band hails from Chicago, the home city of opener Slutbarf and the stomping grounds for The Pussy Pirates. All three bands dip into styles like post-punk, noise and jazz – what better backdrop for reinterpreted carnival acts?
After Slutbarf, The No Joke Sideshow will commence directly in front of the stage while the next band sets up. You may be familiar with “normal” sideshow fare: freaks, oddities, tricks, etc. The form won’t be unrecognizable, but don’t expect much normality (there may or may not be live tattooing featuring J.C. of Pangaea Piercing – you’ll just have to check it out).
Paper Mice leads into The Tickled Fancy Burlesque Co. performance – a glorified strip tease. The Pussy Pirates cap off the music before the show retreats into the Pig’s train track-bordered alley to witness Arson’s Blazin’ Carnival. Think stilts, ball and chains of fire, booze and an amazing experience.
It’s hoped that all audience members will dress as zombie clowns (clown zombies?), though any reference to zombies in general is accepted. You can, of course, come as you are, but that wouldn’t be the point.
You won’t find another event of this ilk any time in the near future. Burlesque, zombies and fire spitting are all on our back, westward porch.
Think about it.
Zombie Carnival Night
Friday at 9:30 p.m.
At the Blind Pig
$8 18+/$5 21+