Burlesque is addictive! With the colour, the music, the costumes, the humour, and the madness, I knew that a visiting friend would with her own eyes. We were lucky enough to get the last three tickets! Once again, it was in a tiny bar that you would never notice on any other night. We knew were going in the right direction when we banged into the vocalist from the Situray Cats. The stairs were lined with the performers’ suitcases, and the walls were covered with stickers of other acts or past events. Once again, the venue was tiny. How tiny? I accidentally broke somebody’s empty glass of beer when I turned around. Oops! Sorry!

We had learned from experience, so we arrived early and got seats upfront. Ginmaku Rock was the name of the bar, and they were making a special Love Attack cocktail for the night. Mmm, good! The drinks were so popular that they ran out of ingredients and had to make another sakura version. The Chinese characters for cosmos flowers are 秋桜 (aki zakura or autumn cherry blossoms). If you ordered a drink, you could win a pin with a performer’s photo on it. Nago, the vocalist from the Situray Cats, might have gotten into trouble because he got every performer’s pins (called badge in Japanese) except those of his girlfriend!

You know it is going to be a fun evening when you see a man in a spangled suit and captain’s hat. And he takes drink orders. “Oh, Captain, my captain!” The captain, known as Yokke, acted as emcee. He was fabulous! He also made a few wardrobe changes during the evening, acting out various roles such as the evil manager.

Once again, you could not take photos of the dancers during the performances, but before and after were acceptable. Performers included Bee Tiny Tot acting as Queen Bee for the night, Odile,  Marie Horn, Maria Luna, Gummo, and Mani Catchy. Odile kicked off the show with her rendition sweet Charity Brown. In this outfit, she occasionally policed the happenings as an on-going gag. Who knew she was a Shirley Maclaine fan? The gang brought the house down when they dressed up as the Power Rangers. All of the costumes were unbelievable!

Once again, the staff and the audience were almost as interesting as the performers. Being up close and personal as we were, audience participation was demanded when the performers needed help with props, such as using the obi from a kimono as a partial screen or holding a fluffy petticoat.

 And, of course, tipping was encouraged. Tuck it under a strap or pass it in a kiss. It does not matter if you are male or female. Money is money; fun is fun.

The evening celebrated the first year anniversary for the burlesque events under the Love Attack name. After their performances, they posed for pictures, made goofy faces, and mingled with the audience. A good time was had by all!