Daiana Feuer on September 7th, 2017

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“Take off your pants!” People kept shouting, hoping, it seemed, that Australian Kirin J Callinan would show everyone his wiener at some point during the show Wednesday night at the Bootleg Theater. He handled it politely, responding with a low, calm, sensual voice that would be perfect for announcing slow jams on a radio show or answering calls as a sex line operator. His denim outfit was both manly and something Mariah Carey would have worn in a 1994 jeans ad.

Surrounded by a rainbow of guitar pedals that he wielded like a magician, Callinan pulled the audience into his world with “My Moment” from the new album “Bravado.” Somewhere between a trance anthem and a jock jam, the song had big builds and drops punctuated by Callinan making valiant grunting sounds into the microphone. It prepared folks for what followed, songs both absurd and sincere that blended R&B, Eurodance, and guitar rock with Callinan’s feel-good tales of conquest and bravado. The show was as much about Callinan’s charismatic Vegas cowboy lounge singer persona as it was about the music. At one point he took the entire audience into the other room for an unplugged serenade on an old piano. While he did not take off his pants — although Mac DeMarco shouted multiple requests — Callinan danced like there were hot coals under his spurred cowboy boots.

Earlier, Fatal Jamz frontman Marion Belle wore a silky red bare midriff with macho lustiness. Backed by a five-piece band, including acoustic guitar, Belle transported the audience to his own glistening golden age of New Wave and Hollywood decadence. Rounding out the lineup was another visitor from Australia, Spike Fuck. He bounced around the stage in a way that was both blissful and frenzied, singing karaoke-style about his torments with drugs, occasionally stopping to say he loved America. It was as weird as it sounds but you couldn’t look away.