SEX CELLS a traveling party produced by subversive art and fashion collective Lethal Amounts brought a decidedly fabulous and freaky queer Halloween event to the historic Palace Theater in downtown LA on Sunday. The show featured legendary synth-pop icon Marc Almond (of Soft Cell fame), a DJ set by Hercules & Love Affair and two special burlesque performances by pinup starlet, entrepreneur and femme fatale Dita Von Teese. Almond careened through his four decade-spanning catalog along with guitarist Neal X (of 80s punk group Sigue Sigue Sputnik) playing two sets of songs from Almond’s solo and Soft Cell albums, with an intermission drag show featuring Squeaky Blonde, Vander Von Odd and Von Teese’s highly theatrical show replete with large pink furs, dazzling sequin corsets, and a six-foot high champagne glass filled with soapy bubbles that she finished her act in. Highly stylized costumes ranging from the campy to the grotesque to the absurd were the norm for the audience as well, everyone being especially extra. Almond’s crowd skews a little older, but hits like “Sex Dwarf,” “Chips On My Shoulders,” “Fun City,” “Torch,” “Memorabilia,” and mega-hit, “Tainted Love,” had everyone fully in touch with their youth, saying hello, waving goodbye. Thanks to everyone who put on this incredible show.
