SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO sponsors cinematic celebration of the legendary Lux Interior’s life.
It strikes me on occasion that I live in a world in which there is no longer a living version of Lux Interior. And that train of thought leads to the sobering realization that I’ll never see his band, iconic, filthy, dirty and glorious garage rock outfit THE CRAMPS live, ever again.
Ever. No reunion tour. No nothing. I’m lucky that I had the chance to see them three times, shows that I’ll never, ever forget as long as I live.
We lost the inimitable Lux Interior (born Erick Lee Purkhiser) in 2009 and for many of us that worship the world of THE CRAMPS, this was the real “day the music died”. Taking his love of vintage rockabilly and American rock and country music and mashing them with his passion for perverse pop culture, horror and exploitation films and cheeky erotica, Lux formed THE CRAMPS in 1976 along with his girlfriend and eventual wife, badass guitarist and songwriter Poison Ivy (aka Ivy Rorschach). The duo invented a kind of sub-genre of rock ‘n’ roll, dubbed ‘Psychobilly”, though to pigeonhole THE CRAMPS as any one kind of music is foolish.
THE CRAMPS were and are THE CRAMPS. No substitutes accepted.
The cult around Lux and THE CRAMPS is as devoted as ever and because of this, timed around the anniversary of his passing, fans all over America have organized a series of LUX LIVES celebrations, parties featuring live music by bands that owe their PVC to their fallen idol.
But in Seattle, on February 5th, the LUX LIVES party is at its peak; a two day bacchanalia that begins with LUX LIVES MOVIE NIGHT sponsored by none other than SOMETHING WEIRD VIDEO.
Die hard fans of both SWV and THE CRAMPS know that Lux was a fiend for the kind of films that SWV rescued from that Movielab vault (and he even named scads of his signature tunes after classic SWV pictures) and eventually he and Ivy befriended its founder, the late Mike Vraney and his wife Lisa Petrucci.
Because of this, SWV has curated a screening party to kick off the weekend, starting with a wealth of kinky trailers chased by the features CONFESSIONS OF A PSYCHO CAT and ALL WOMEN ARE BAD.
The mad movie party and celebration of a life lives so fucking well, will roll out on February 5th at 7pm at Seattles Grand Illusion Cinema.
The following night at Darrell’s Tavern, bands BOSS MARTIANS, DIE NASTY, THE F-HOLES GOREHOUNDS, THEE SWINGIN’ CREEPER and MISS J9 FIERCE will blow the roof off the dump, playing CRAMPS classics and original sonic smut.
Go to the LUX LIVES event page for all the info you need to know.
And in the meantime, here’s a video featuring Lux and Ivy at the peak of their powers, live in France in 1986.
