The Women (and men) of Wasabassco returned to Brooklyn throughout the month of February for a series of Wedmesday night performances at Sputnik. The location is smaller and less geared toward performing than their last outing at Southpaw but after a few kinks here and there the producers and performers were able to make the space their own... largely on the strengths of their ability to improvise around the flaws (bringing out the sound engineer and DJ to strip, "hot mike" jokes, etc.). The diminished scale of the space (and audience) meant that the dancers had to coax interactions a bit from crowd but again that only added to the richness of the experience.

Anita Cookie and Miss Saturn took turns as hostesses adding an extra layer of variety to the overall event. Cookie, of course, was hilarious in both her routines and commentary. This was the first time I saw Miss Saturn act as emcee but she couldn't have asked for a better setting given her persona's Russian theme. She also took full advantage of producer Andy Heidel's birthday to add livlieness to the festivities.

The affair offered me exposure to a number of dancers for the first time: Anais Sin, Creamy Stevens, Delirium Tremens, Lady Ace, Little Brooklyn, Mike, Molly Crabapple, Old Ma Femme, and Samantha in addition to performers I'm more familiar with like Anita Cookie, Jo Boobs, Miss Saturn, and Scarlet Sinclair.

There were a number of standout routines in this month long stint at Sputnik:

Lady Ace as "Femme Fatale" (as pictured above) was some of the most scintilating noir I've seen in some time. Her "Oh, Canada" to the tune of Foreigner's "Cold as Ice" had the crowd on their feet. What made it so unique? It was a reverse burlesque -- she came on stage naked and slowly suited up for the wintry conditions outside of the club.

Aimee Leigh aka Mike and her "hot nuts" *killed* the room. Truly baseball vendoring will never be the same again.

Another crowd pleaser was Old Ma Femme's rousing rendition of "Devil Went Down to Georgia." Even in blustery Brooklyn, in a bar themed to Sov cold war culture Charlie Daniel's classic got everyone energized.

Things got complex when it came to the musicians. I think there may have been some conflict, delay, illness or something that prevented The WIYOS from taking stage one evening. I missed seeing The Roulette Sisters due to my own conflicts. The musicians I did see perform though, Curtis Eller and Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co., were golden.

Eller has a very unique stage presence with movements that are part David Bryne, part Les Claypool, but couched in a persona and behavior that's more shy? delicate? paranoid? It's a lot of fun to watch but very hard to label. His ode to Coney Island of yesteryear is s heartbreaking and touching as some of my favorite Tom Waits' songs.

SIT & Die Co. are only slightly more conventional by comparison but that doesn't diminish their strength as a rockabilly trio defined by skill and humor. Shades of Reverend Horton Heat without being derivative.

As usual you can click on the image above or click here to launch the full flash photo gallery in a seperate window. No worries if you've missed out, the show returns to Sputnik for more starting Friday April 8th, and running throughout the year on 2nd fridays.