The Lucent Dossier Experience hit the Trocadero on Saturday, May 31st for a night of… of… we’re not exactly sure what. We didn’t know exactly what the show encompassed prior to seeing it and after it was over we were left with more questions than answers.
The night kicked off with opening DJ sets by ‘Var Lynn’ and ‘Manskar’. Despite the fact that the Trocadero’s website said “Doors at 8pm” (leading us to believe that the show would begin 30-60 minutes later) the show actually kicked off at 8pm, right when the venue opened, evidently.
We were still expecting to see one of the opening DJs on stage when we arrived just before 930pm but instead found that live-band ‘ELM’ was already on stage. We last saw ‘ELM’ when they shared the bill with ‘EOTO’ and ‘Emalkay’ at the TLA back in February and we were impressed by them at the time.
We again enjoyed ‘ELM’ but it couldn’t have been easy for them to play an entire set to an almost empty venue. The main floor of the Trocadero had about five people standing on it with a few more sprinkled under the balcony, in the lobby getting painted up by Bodypaint.ME, or in the 21+ areas (where the majority of the sparse crowd was located).
Of course there was a lone guy out dancing on the dance floor without a care in the world. There always seems to be at least one. I’m sure ELM appreciated him.
After a brief intermission to prep the stage, it was time for ‘The Lucent Dossier Experience’ to begin. The lights dimmed, fog began to drift across the stage, and the backing band began to play. Then the performers hit the stage, decked out in costumes that looked like a coven of witches. Those outfits were soon shed to reveal what appeared to be a mix of wardrobes from the movies ‘Aladdin’, ‘Stargate’, and ‘Water World’. All of a sudden it seemed as if every single person in the venue moved from wherever they’d been hiding and came to the main floor, many pressing up against the gate by the stage.
A large mental star-like object took center stage and the female performers surrounded it, took hold, and then were lifted far off the ground by a cable suspended from the ceiling. This part of the show had a ‘Cirque Du Soliel’ feel to it, but that wouldn’t last for long. When the performers were lowered back onto stage they began a dance routine that quickly became more of a “who can make the most eerie face we’ve ever seen” contest. It was a steep competition; we’re still not sure who won.
The show became more and more bizarre as it progressed. The dances seemed to draw inspiration from Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’, and some robots with multiple malfunctions.
Vocalists took the mic at a few points (they were talented singers) and there were several other off-the-cusp costume changes and performances which included another aerialist (who was suspended from a flying stripper pole), a Brittney Spears ‘I’m A Slave 4 U’ chair routine, a medical themed display of flexibility, a cloth cocoon that was then drenched with water to reveal a mostly-naked woman hatching from within, and most likely something else we’ve suppressed deep within our collective consciousness.
When the show ended around 1145pm, we were left with several questions, the most pressing of them being:
1) Who slipped us some bad LSD? 2) What planet are we on? and, 3) What?!?
As strange as we found the performance, others seemed to love it. The girls directly to our left were wrought with excitement from start to finish, yelling things like “You’re SO sexy!” at the performers and mimicking their dance moves, sort of. We also heard several hoots and cat calls from other members of the audience at several points. A few people we spoke with after the show definitely shared our confusion at what we’d all just witnessed, “Um…What?!” we asked them. “Exactly,” they replied.
The Lucent Dossier Experience was definitely an experience, one that has to be seen with your own eyes to be believed (but probably not understood).
[Photo credit: D. Jacob Miller Photography]
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