Photos: Chinatown Moon Festival, with Twin Temple, Pom Poms, Oddnesse and more

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Low Hum at the Chinatown Moon Festival (Photo by Kevin Bronson)
Low Hum at the Chinatown Moon Festival (Photo by Kevin Bronson)

There was something about the moon. Technically, it was what they call “waning gibbous,” just past last Thursday’s full moon. Whatever: It illuminated some strange and wonderful things on the Live Music Stage at the 79th annual Chinatown Moon Festival on Saturday night.

The evening ended with Twin Temple, the “Satanic doo-wop” ensemble led by the husband-and-wife team of Zachary and Alexandra James. They summoned the “divine female energy of the moon” to perform “baptism in the name of Lilith,” prompting three male members of the audience to come onstage to engage in a ritual that seemed appropos given the political social climate. They renounced ignorance, oppression and the subjugation of women, chanting “I exalt all women as equals.”

Oh, by the way, Twin Temple, horns and all, was typically formidable musically, too.

The ceremony ended a long evening of music that began with Bien Bien’s delicious grooves and segued into Bloody Death Skull’s subversively engaging, whimsically outfitted retro-pop. Ukuleles forever.

As the sun set, the confetti cannons went off for Low Hum’s sharp indie-rock. Then the moon rose over the southeast horizon for Oddnesse’s riveting set of dream-pop/shoegaze. Lost Beach followed with some astral good vibes, setting the stage for Pom Poms’ sultry, retro garage-blues, with frontwoman Marlene Gold’s hip-shaking moves and big vocals.

Photos by Kevin Bronson