Lords of Acid at the Gramercy Theatre

Praga Khan, Marieke Bresseleers, Sin Quirin

Maurice Engelen, better known by his stage name Praga Khan, was among the pioneers of the new beat/acid house/hardcore electronic dance music scene that originated in Belgium. Since the late 1980s, Khan has recorded under his own name and as Channel X and Digital Orgasm, but his best-known effort in the United States is the intermittent project Lords of Acid. Lords of Acid is perhaps more of a concept than a band in that it remains dormant for extended periods and its musicians often change. The consistency remains in the output -- sexually provocative songs and stage acts. Lords of Acid released its sixth and most recent album, Pretty in Kink, on May 18, 2018. The current members are Khan on keyboards, lead vocalist Marieke Bresseleers, guitarist Sin Quirin, bassist DieTrich Thrall, and drummer Galen Waling.

At the Gramercy Theatre tonight, Lords of Acid’s Pretty in Kink Tour had the musical support of Orgy, the Genitorturers and Gabriel & the Apocalypse, plus a metal-inspired burlesque troupe, Little Miss Nasty, all for a night of risqué rock entertainment. Performing three to five songs from five of the six Lords of Acid albums, the headliner's set spanned the expanse of the brand's career, with deep cutting guitar riffs powering an abrasively rocking set that borrowed generously from industrial and metal music. Lords of Acid’s industrial and acid house music pulsed and throbbed while the mesmerizing Bresseleers oozed a vocal sexuality. The scantily-clad Bresseleers was the visual center of attention as she spit forth the lyrics as she slithered across the stage to the crunching electro- techno music. Ultimately, the root of the performance was not about the playful cavorting on the stage but on the solid integrity of hard and heavy dance music.

Setlist:

1. Sex Bomb
2. Scrood Bi U
3. Break Me
4. Sex Cam Girl
5. Out Comes the Evil
6. (A Treatise on the Practical Methods Whereby One Can) Worship the Lords
7. You Belong to Me
8. Rough Sex/Take Control
9. Rubber Doll
10. Voodoo-U
11. Pussy
12. Lover
13. My Demons Are Inside
14. The Most Wonderful Girl
15. Drink My Honey
16. I Sit on Acid

Encore:

1. Let's Get High
2. The Crablouse