An Evening of Lysergic Thrills
with The White Rabbit
and Friends

On February 20th I traveled to M Bar in Hollyweird to witness an evening of psychedelic sounds and sideshow spectacle. Modeled after the Rolling Stones' Rock 'n' Roll Circus multimedia event from 1968, an entrepreneur known as The White Rabbit put together two bands and a group of magicians for what turned out to be quite a memorable event.

The show kicked off with The Mojo Filters, an excellent Los Angeles five piece whose music mines 60's R&B and acid rock. The closest comparison would probably be Arthur Lee's Love, although the Mojos never dip into the corny romanticism that dates some of that group's work.

George and Clifton form the Mojo Filters kick it old school.

Instead, these guys keep the tempo upbeat and the grooves thick, never giving the audience a chance to get bored. Their sound benefited from the acoustics of the room, allowing the vocals to mesh with the instruments and avoid the muddy quality that marred past performances at other venues (I don't want to name names, but the Bigfoot Lodge comes to mind).

"Now I have you right where I want, my pretty..."

Following this performance, The Traveling Wonder Show took over. Mainman Chris Wonder performed dazzling tricks before a befuddled audience, as the White Rabbit himself supplied tension with a series of
heart-thumping drum fills. An attempt to shoot a mouse from a cannon fizzled, to the delight of animal rights activists everywhere.

Above: the doggie is put through her paces as the White Rabbit looks on. Below: Jumping through the hoop.

Then a blonde girl on stilts came out, leading a much shorter girl around on a leash. That's when things got weird. The short girl was wearing a tutu, tights, and a fake "doggy" nose. She acted like a dog, panting and jumping through hoops while the tall girl slapped her with a riding crop. I was starting to get aroused by this, but alas…as soon as they had appeared, the ladies were gone.

He prepares the sword, and then...	...the room grows blurry as Ryan-O starts to faint.

Next up was a sword-swallower, who almost made me gag on my beer with his deep-throat antics. I'm always afraid that I'll be in the audience when one of these guys bleeds to death, which makes me a little squeamish. I have a feeling that that's the same reason a lot of people watch such displays. Humans are fucked up.

Before I could ponder the foul nature of humanity any longer, The Soundhead took the stage. These OC stoners proceeded to plow through a quality set of fuzzed-out drone rock, propelled by twin Gibson SG guitars and a pallid girl who played bass and organ at the same time without so much as winking at the audience. Like the Mojos, I had seen these guys before, and their sound also was given an upgrade by the acoustics of the room. At the end of their set, the crowd cheered for more, which is a rare thing at such small shows. The band graciously consented with a long, dynamic number that was the highlight of their performance.

The Soundhead: Set the Controls for the Heart of the Bong

This wasn't the first nor the last time The White Rabbit has put together such an event. The next one will be an all night party on March 20, 2004 at The John Raitt Theatre, 6520 Hollywood Blvd. Don't let the opportunity to experience such audio visual madness pass you by. I'll be there, sitting on a mushroom, smoking my hookah.