Justin Vivian Bond

I miss Kiki & Herb. For those who don't know, they were played by Justin Bond and Kenny Mehlman and were an old-timey lounge act with a hilarious back story and a penchant for covering increasingly bizarre songs. Who can say they've lived unless they've seen a trans woman in old-lady make-up do a balls out performance of "Wu-Tang Forever?" No one. That's who.

I first saw Kiki & Herb in the basement of the NYU Catholic Center (obviously) in '98 or '99. I also notably saw their farewell concert at Carnegie Hall (downtown goes uptown for real), their subsequent "second coming" at the same venue, and most notably for me, a concert at the Knitting Factory shortly after 9/11/01 that was searingly bleak, uncomfortably hysterical, and ultimately one of the most memorable things I've ever seen.

Point is, since the "second coming," they haven't been back on the scene together, but I've caught up with each many, many times--Kenny regularly at Our Hit Parade and Justin wherever she happens to play.

It was with great pleasure that I got a chance to check out her show the night before Halloween at Joe's Pub. The on stage chatter veered from estrogen therapy to Samhain Eve to lap dances and Casey Anthony. The tone, as ever, was caustic with an undercurrent of warmth and a hint of wonder, as bitter and bold as ever.

I really enjoyed the show which was loosely organized around the theme of "songs by dead people." So loosely, in fact, that many of the songs were by people who are alive and simply old. Which was confusing to be sure and did lead to a moment of genuine concern when she started singing Leonard Cohen's "Famous Blue Raincoat." Leonard is happily still among us.

Justin's voice perpetually sounds just this side of fully shot and always in danger of just tumbling over a cliff, but she can use that to find these incredible moments of pathos and humanity. But here's the thing: when she goes for funny, no one else can do what she does. When the target is earnest, I feel like there are wonderful moments but that they lack a level of transcendence that I know is possible. So maybe she doesn't want to be funny all the time. That's fine. And we still get shows that are pretty wonderful. But I walk away with that niggling voice suggesting I could have had an even better time. So...yeah. I miss Kiki & Herb. But in the meantime, I'm certainly not going to turn down an evening with Mx. Bond.