Women of the SS
at The Middle East
by Chaz Thorndike
photo by Chris Johnson
Picture this: Three women dressed in black leather bondage attire, armed with an inventory of pain and pleasure toys (enough to make even us “experimentalists” add to our Christmas lists) kicking, caressing, flogging and, in general, walking all over a continuous stream of men in leather thongs.
As the various “skits” were presented, the focus of the bondage ritual altered. The eroticism of women waltzing around the stage, pausing only to kick a slave boy, and the self indulgent solo dance of scantily clad vixens (masturbation, in a sense), was offset by the fondle-turned-whipping of the males.
The progression of degradation zipped along and was cheered on by the audience like a fight scene in a Rocky movie. Whether anyone actually got off on the event, I couldn’t tell. Mostly the response was rapt attention and squirming, “OW! That’s got to hurt!”
Favorite torments – a man with his wrists tied to the rafters standing on an ice block getting slapped, molested and whipped; a mask wearing man in a cage not nearly big enough to Go-Go dance in; and the jaw-dropping show-stopper; the chump who got the enema.
A few aspects of the performance did detract from the overall effect. If viewed as performance art, it was okay. Larger budget, wilder lights, more gimmicks and really sick and twisted sexual feats would take the show beyond its quaint crash course in S/M feel. Then again, they’re doing it and I’m not, so they’ve got me beat no matter what. If viewed as a band, well, the tape loops were muddy and uninspiring, and the vocals had so much Goth reverb that you couldn’t understand the pearls of wisdom that weren’t there. Having crisply produced, high energy techno/house offset by slow, grinding metal guitars with sampled chains rattling, wolves baying, whips cracking. and human screaming would be a nice touch.
From what I hear, Women of the SS is getting more complex as they gain more stage time. Hopefully, they’ll continue to expand their show, tighten the loose ends, and really take this somewhere. After seeing countless good and bad rock bands, even a mediocre sex act is a pleasant change of pace.
