Bizarre Ball 2009 - London SEOne Club, October 17 2009

Weird and wonderful

October 26, 2009, 12:27 AM

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On my way to London Bridge, challenging the capital’s coldest night so far this year, I look forward to what will be no doubt a special night out. Just as the blazoned magazine organising and sponsoring the event, the second Bizarre Ball is an occasion to celebrate everything that is “different”: from appearance, to music, to shows, to people and their weirdest fetishes, tonight everything is not only allowed, but proudly displayed and widely appreciated. What a night for me and my greedy camera!

The smoking area outside generates a preview of what’s on offer past that door. From pirates to rubber and pvc, from animals to superheroes, pin ups and courtesans, cross-dressed and un-dressed, clowns and horror villains, Bizarre has them all. Inside, this large ground floor venue opens up in several rooms, all with different shows and music.


There are merchandise stands, a mask stall which wouldn’t look bad at Venice Carnival, free books from alternative publishers Headpress and obviously a bar. There’s also “interactive entertainment.” The “Domination Corner” in the Steampunk area, where you can spank and be spanked, whip and be whipped, or just watch if you’re not a big fan of S&M (or at least not in public), and a couple of improvised photographic studios where you can have your picture taken with a bleeding chainsaw, buy it and send it to your mum. I had to try that one, although I will spare my mum this time.

There are several shows going on at the same time, it’s hard to catch everything and even harder get to the front for decent pictures, and I end up running from one stage to another stopping by to immortalize clubber’s outfits. In the Lucha Britannia Stage, the attraction is Mexican Wrestling in a freaky version; on the Main Stage, host Des O’Connor introduces the Circus of Horrors entertaining this original crowd with new gory tricks; Bizarre cover girls make sure we see something more gracious and attractive, just to get shocked and sinisterly horrified again with the next act; performances from the likes of Johnny Woo and Frank Sidebottom show the weirdest side of cabaret.


Music wise, the highlight of the night is the outstanding exhibition from Japanese crazy rockers Electric Eel Shock. Can Japanese do metal? Well, not in a traditional way I guess, and calling their music and live show “bizarre” is surely an understatement. Electric Eel Shock have been around since the late 1990, are signed to Universal in Japan and famous across the world for their live antics, their exuberant music and the special support they get from their fans. They are promoting recent album “Sugoi Indeed,” but it’s clear that their main mission tonight is to entertain. What I’m about to witness is hard to describe to say the least. As soon as Electric Eel Shock start, it’s like they pull you on a rollercoaster, the bar blocks you on your seat and you can’t really go anywhere, so you might as well enjoy the ride. It ends too early, and you find your head spinning wildly while trying to understand what the hell happened. When I finally come back to my senses with way too many pictures on my memory card, I run to the merchandise stand for a picture with frontman Aki and an EP to review on Altsounds.


And then I keep wondering around, glancing at what’s still going on around the various stages, but mainly observing these people, their smiles and their willingness and enthusiasm to be photographed. What makes this a special night is not the huge venue, not the cover girls, not Johnny Woo or even Electric Eel Shock; what makes Bizarre Ball a one-of-a-kind night is not the opportunity to experiment with S&M or satisfy your goriest taste with weird horror shows; what really makes Bizarre Ball one of the most memorable events of this year is the people. Proud to be different, dressed not only to impress but to let out what your so-called “normal” neighbours would look at funnily or even disgusted.

Being Wonder Woman or Freddy Krueger for one day: this the priceless present from Bizarre which is worth more than any of the fantastic acts populating SEOne tonight. Cinderella’s fairy couldn’t have done any better.

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