Black Friday is approaching once again, which means it’s time for the glorious return to Cambridge of Bowie-flavored striptease. “Niki Stardust and the Total Blam Blams” (aka Niki Luparelli and The Gold Diggers) bring back to OBERON their lascivious tribute to David Bowie and the female form.
Having risen to regional celebrity as one half of the neo-vaudeville comedy duo The Steamy Bohemians, voluptuous chanteuse and comic Niki Luparelli now primarily fronts her lounge band The Gold Diggers, regularly playing casinos, clubs, and concert halls across New England.
Known for her sultry Marilyn Monroe looks, her powerful Bette Midler vocal chords, and her boozy Dean Martin sense of humor—as well as for the quantity of odd objects she manages in an evening to pull from her ample cleavage—Niki has also by now produced an impressive portfolio of shows pairing nearly naked women with dearly beloved songs. Because of her efforts, many nights’ worth of scanty lingerie have been flung away to the rhythms of Prince, Madonna, and James Bond. Her latest sextravaganza, the self-explanatory “Strip Zeppelin,” sold out both Cambridge and Worcester venues earlier in the year.
But it’s the David Bowie (or “David Boobie”) shows she’s been doing the longest—partly in hopes, she confesses, that her idol may someday learn of them and be curious to meet her. She concedes, however, that the Thin White Duke might not respond to her lubricious renditions as enthusiastically as New England audiences do. “I’ve put on so many Bowie tribute shows that I’m probably already on his lawyer’s radar screen,” Luparelli says. “So, probably, if I meet Bowie, they are just going to be referring to me as the defendant.”
The audience can expect the evening’s (un)coverage of Bowie to be both deep and wide, appealing to aficionados and casual fans alike. “They’re going to see a lot of beautiful ladies and they’re going to see more Bowie than they thought possible,” says Luparelli. “More Bowie than anybody else is doing. I think the show is a larger show than Bowie himself usually does.”
There will be from twenty-two to twenty-five songs over the course of the night, from ballads like “Life on Mars” to rockers like “Modern Love.” The band, “Niki Stardust and the Total Blam Blams,” comprises Brooks “Shields” Milgate on keyboard, Olga Supernova on violin, Gin Murphy on tenor sax, Johnny English on alto sax, Miss Christine on bass, Ben Falkoff on guitar, Fanny Fandango on backup vocals, and of course Niki “Stardust” Luparelli on lead vocals, sass, and boobs. The dancers—representing both traditional burlesque and the edgier, campier neo-burlesque style—come from all over Eastern Massachusetts.
So, on Black Friday, rather than pushing through the market square, driving like a demon from station to station, and running wild through a million dead-end streets in search of Christmas bargains, you should instead spit in the eyes of fools, put on your red shoes, and run to the centre of things—Club Oberon, that is—where each table offers a seat with the clearest view, and femme fatales emerge from shadows, disrobing to the best of Bowie, all night long.
As the The (Worcester) Telegram advised regarding a previous show: “Whether you are a young American or in your golden years; a diamond dog pulled out of an oxygen tent or a cat person putting out the fire with gasoline; the prettiest star or a spider from mars; a scary monster or a super creep; you would be a lad (or lassie) insane if you didn’t experience the sound and vision of Niki Luparelli as she tears through the David Bowie songbook.”
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“Whether you are a young American or in your golden years; a diamond dog pull out of an oxygen tent or a cat person putting out the fire with gasoline; the prettiest star or a spider from mars; a scary monster or a super creep; you would be a lad (or lassie) insane if you didn’t experience the sound and vision of Niki Luparelli as she tears through the David Bowie songbook. “ -Telegram.com
“Luparelli’s Bowie tribute show must be seen to be believed” -Telegram.com
“Some of us are looking for something a little more glamorous to do on Friday. Take a trip through the eclectic songbook of David Bowie with Niki Luparelli and The Gold Diggers” – Boston Magazine
“Chanteuse Niki Luparelli and her Gold Diggers kick off the post-Thanksgiving weekend with some wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am…This tribute will be somewhere between 3 and 3 million times more fun tan circling a mall parking lot.” -Boston Herald
“Want to see Bowie done cabaret style? We’re pretty sure that no one’s better for that than Niki.”– BostonBandCrush.org
“Mamma Mia! meets Moulin Rouge, with ABBA’s disco replaced by Bowie’s glam-rock tunes. Let’s Dance” -Stuff Magazine
“’Boston’s bustiest chanteuse’ trains her headlights on dear David Bowie (backed by her retro band, the Gold Diggers) in an evening of cabaret-rock crossbreeding.” – Time Out New York
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