LIVE: The Vaudeville Circus & Masked Ball @ the BSP Lounge, 1/21/12

Review and photographs by Timothy Reidy

First off at the BSP Lounge in Kingston was the Metropolitan Hot Club, playing a tight set of jazz. The crisp four-piece was the first set of bands that bookended the show. The event encouraged costumes, and most attendees were well dressed and made up part of the fun of the evening. In the middle sections of this escapade was burlesque with three styles – the elegant Martina Markota with a swan/peacock dance, Gigi & Pop with a singing cowboy show and Dr. Lucky with a carousel pony show.

The meat in the middle of this entertainment sandwich was Honor Amongst Thieves. They performed escapes of restraints in front of the stage, got the crowd fired up and whipped them into shape. The so-called “side show” was a nice interlude between the burlesque performers’ first and second acts. This time around, Markota did an Indian-style dance, with Dr. Lucky’s Triple Feature and Gigi & Pop’s Hawaiian-style set with mash-ups and low-key songs.

It would have been fine to end it there, but the bread at the bottom was a spectacular performance by the Lucky Jukebox Brigade. Starting with a costume change at the beginning of the show, they got great sound out of their many-piece band. If this was not enough for the viewer, the Lucky Jukebox Brigade performed “Moroccan Fire Drill” and another song with a trio of fire twirlers. Afterward, the audience either danced or sat and ate up the strong new and old songs. They brought back the fire twirlers, and one was eating fire, plus they had more fire for their encore.

All in all, a hot night in uptown Kingston.