REVIEW: THE BATHAUS and NECROMANTIK SUNSHINE

Saturday, October 20th, 2012

The crisp autumnal dusk fell quickly as I stood outside my awful building in Upper Darby, dodging dustheads and crackwhores whilst awaiting my ride. After a long couple of weeks involving far too much stress (and sobriety), I desperately needed to get out. I was thankful there was somewhere to escape, especially this particular evening. I was to be going to Philly's one and only deathrock night Batastrophe, being held at the newer venue the BATHAUS, located at 746 S. 8th Street. I was indeed looking forward to seeing Philly electro-deathrock legends NECROMANTIK SUNSHINE perform what was rumored to be their "final performance" (a sad thought, as they've been around a long time -- since 1998, and are the only band in the city to have ever really sounded the way the do).

Eventually my ride (DJ Sir-Ryg and artist Patricia Piccolo) showed, with the evenings guest DJ Jeffrey Bats (out from the equally -- if a bit differently -- hellish Dayton, Ohio) in tow. We arrived a bit early, and decided to wander as the freakish troublemakers we are around the nearby South Street area, giving Mr. Bats the not-so-grand tour. Come 9pm, we headed back over to the club for the festivities to begin.

John Savia (aka DJ Anorexotica) has done a fantastic job turning the long unused upstairs of Mama Yolanda's into the classy, deathly BATHAUS. It is kind of the successor to Black Saturdays at Yolana's (which I had gone to a couple of times but never particularly enjoyed, as the place was overrun with several problems, and usually the music was just lame -- too much industrial/ebm for my jaded audial pallate). He has put an immense amount of work, time, and money into the tranformation, creating an inviting and comfortable deathrock dancehall, utilizing the run down interior to his decorative benefit, while adding the expected "goth night" trappings: skulls and electro-candles, the occasional spatterings of odd artwork, some interesting mechanized laser lights, a wonderful red-velvet couch, Addams Family-style wall paper, and of course the most important aspect, a chest-throbbing sound system. Cover for the BATHAUS is an affordable $5. And with an incredibly friendly and attentive bar tending staff, the price is right there too, with strong drinks that never seem to exceed $4 a pop, it can't be beat.

Jeffrey Bats spun a wondrous variety of classic Batcave goth, L.A. Deathrock, old punk, with a heaping of newer acts thrown into the mix. I believe he spun most of the night, playing everything from Sex Gang Children to Samhain to Ciril, The Wake, Danse Society, Screams For Tina, Carcrash Int'l . . . I could go on and on.

Come 11 pm, NECROMANTIK SUNSHINE took the "stage", as it were, with all three members donned in perfectly ghoulish deathpaint (supplied by local visual and make-up artist Kate Wylde). Visually they had a very classic Lords Of The New Church-type appearance, that of confident swaggering gothpunks you wouldn't want to fukk with in a dark alley on the best of nights. Brian Bordello (vox, guitar), Adian Cane (guitar, programming, backing vox) and Midnight (bass) lurked about the dancefloor, drenched in glorious whorehouse-red lighting, performing both classic and newer material. On a screen behind them ran a constant stream of varied footage from classic black and white horror films, a slight yet potent finishing touch to their interesting visual aesthetic.

The performance got off to a bit of a rough start with some programming guffaws and a mic-feedback sound issue. Roughly a quarter of the way through their set, however, once that was all fixed, the rest of the performance was a powerhouse. The setlist went as follows:

Condolences
Penetration Time (a ripping new song)
X Rated
Necromantik Sunshine
Suicide
Pink
Cold
Lonely
Nevermind The Living
Rewire
Possession

I found out after the gig, while talking to members Brian Bordello (who was running around begging to -- and succeeding in --  sign(ing) womens breasts) and Adian Cane, that this is NOT their last performance and that they are NOT breaking up, but merely going on a bit of hiatus in order to work on some personal projects, get their lives together, and eventually re-record their new album. Brian told me that they had the album recorded once already, but ended up losing it to a series of misfortunate events. Their first cd is still available, however, and I highly recommend  picking it up (SEE THE LINKS BELOW).

The rest of the night went off without a hitch. Drinking, dancing (though I'm really more of a watcher), and foul gallows humor permeated the atmoshphere.

Afterwards, a large collective of us ghouls went to the South Street Diner and caused benign mayhem there until about 5am, when we dropped Jeff Bats at the Greyhound terminal and all went our exhausted and merry ways. All in all it was a great night, with some terrific music, an intense live performance by some fun and cocky local "legends". . . and most importantly, good people. With a mere 10 days to Halloween, and the fact it was Bela Lugosi's birthday, this was the perfect way to spend the night.

If you live in the area (or are just passing through), stop by the BATHAUS, located at 746 S. 8th Street in Philadelphia, PA. Open every Saturday from 9pm-2am: http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/The-Bathaus/455918491093549?fref=ts

And check out NECROMANTIK SUNSHINE. Their debut cd is still available for $10, from their main site:

http://necromantiksunshineb.wix.com/necromantiksunshineband

Or check out their stuff at:

www.reverbnation.com/necromantiksunshine

http://www.last.fm/music/Necromantik+Sunshine?ac=Necromantik

Contact them on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Necromantik-Sunshine/160467694012194

Contact Kate Wylde Productions:
http://www.facebook.com/#!/KateWyldeProductions?fref=ts

Contact DJ Jeffrey Bats:
 http://www.facebook.com/#!/cemeterybat1334?fref=ts