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The Luv Show – 30th Anniversary Celebration coming in Decemember

 

Ann will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of The Luv Show for two shows at Zebulon in Los Angeles this December! This is a 21+ event.

Purchase Tickets here:

Press Release 

Ann Magnuson celebrates the 30th anniversary of her first solo album THE LUV SHOW with a RARE revival of the epic live show featuring all the tracks from the 1995 GEFFEN album – plus some surprises! THE LUV SHOW is a multi-genre song cycle that played to packed houses during residencies at the famed LA club Luna Park as well as at Fez in NYC and the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. Audiences went wild for this Vegas-goes-DIY extravaganza which became THE must-see show in 1995.

Re-live those glory years as Magnuson returns to the Zebulon stage with original LUV SHOW band members Jonathan Lea (guitar), Kristian Hoffman (keyboard), Joe Berardi (drums/percussion) and recent addition Marc Doten (bass/effects)
Ann explains, “THE LUV SHOW mixes folk, psychedelic, lounge, glam and rock into a pastiche of musical theater and spoken word dreamscapes which tell a story about twisted California dreams and apocalyptic nightmares. Influenced by rock operas like Tommy, HAIR and Jesus Christ Superstar as well as exploitation movies such as Beyond the Valley of The Dolls and classics like Day of The Locust, this lethal musical cocktail contains a generous splash of Bongwater. In fact, THE LUV SHOW was my first solo album after having recorded 5 albums with Bongwater and the vibes are equally trippy. There’s just more ‘Technicolor razzle dazzle’ in THE LUV SHOW.

I’m thrilled to revive THE LUV SHOW with so many of the original musicians. I’m unlikely to do this again so SEE IT NOW WHILE YOU CAN!”

The Luv Show album cover art was designed by well-known LA-based artist Jim Shaw.

Photographs by Rocky Schenck.

About The Luv Show

The Luv Show LP was produced by Don Fleming and Ann Magnuson and features songs written by Magnuson but also includes tracks co-written and performed by the art rock band Supersession started by legendary artist Mike Kelley (drums), Art Byington (guitar) and Richie Lee, the late bassist from cult band Acetone.

Grammy-nominated guitarist Jonathan Lea has played on recordings featured in numerous TV shows including “Futurama” and “Shameless,” can be heard on over a dozen singles that have reached #1 at various underground rock radio outlets in the past two years and has worked with several of his childhood heroes including Dave Davies of The Kinks, Clem Burke of Blondie and record producer Shel Talmy (The Kinks, The Who, David Bowie.)

Kristian Hoffman, producer, keyboardist and songwriter, has worked with many fabulous artists, including Lydia Lunch, Alice Bag, Kid Congo Powers and Ann Magnuson, for whom he produced, co-wrote, and arranged her second solo LP ‘Pretty Songs & Ugly Stories.”Hoffman co-founded legendary CBGBs era band Mumps with Lance Loud and was principle songwriter and arranger for the New Wave opera icon Klaus Nomi, writing most of Nomi’s hits. He was a major player in New York’s NO WAVE scene (playing with The Contortions) and has toured extensively with Dave Davies, El Vez, and Rufus Wainwright. He has released 4 solo CDs and multiple albums with his many bands and friends.

Drummer/percussionist Joe Berardi has been a fixture on the Los Angeles creative music scene for many years. His distinctive style makes him the go-to sideman for many outlanders, and he has been involved in numerous bands that atom-smash different genres into a near uncategorizable mix.

Los Angeles native, Marc Doten is a multi-instrumentalist talent as well as record producer who played with Ann Magnuson in the epic “Goth Christmas” show at Zebulon in 2023. He is excited to play bass and provide additional otherworldly sounds to this revival of “The Luv Show.”

Album Cover Artwork by Jim Shaw

Tickets on Sale: A GOTH XMAS – Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of THE HUNGER

Tue, Dec 5, 8:00 PM
21+ Event
 

Ann Magnuson presents A GOTH XMAS – Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of THE HUNGER featuring songs by BONGWATER! BOWIE! BAUHAUS! Plus: Ann’s personal stories about being the first victim of David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve’s stylish vampire couple in what has been universally described as the best opening sequence in cinema history! Magnuson will be accompanied by musicians Joe Berardi, Marc Doten and Pierre Smith. With special guest Adam Dugas. Magnuson will also sing her new single GHOST CAT and perform other elements of what the native West Virginian calls “Appalachian Goth Lounge”.

Ann Magnuson is a performer and musician known for her surreal dreamscapes presented in both song and spoken word. She fronted the indie cult band Bongwater (who released five albums from 1986-1992) and has released many solo albums starting with “The Luv Show” (Geffen, 1995.)

She is also is a multi-media interdisciplinary performer, writer, and artist who has acted in film, theater and television, performed in museums and galleries, written for various publications, and also makes visual art.

After studying theatre and cinema in London she worked in New York City with the Ensemble Studio Theater, managed the infamous Club 57, and rubbed elbows with Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Andy Warhol. Ann appeared with David Bowie in “The Hunger”, starred in “Making Mr. Right” opposite John Malkovich and was a series regular in the ABC sitcom “Anything But Love” with Jamie Lee Curtis. She famously dropped the F-Bomb on Sir Patrick Stewart in “Picard.” She has recently completed narration for an audio book of the memoir of famed jazz vocalist Anita O’Day. Her new single “Ghost Cat” (about monsters from her native West Virginia) will be released in late October and features harmonica by Nashville legend Charlie McCoy.

She received a BFA, Theater and Cinema from Denison University, an Honorary Doctorate from West Virginia University, is a 2018 Inductee of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, was Guest Curator of MOMA’s exhibit “Club 57: Film, Performance, and Art in the East Village, 1978–1983”, and recently established The Club 57 Society this summer while curating (and performing) in two wildly successful events at Zebulon co-hosted by The Broad Museum in connection with their Keith Haring retrospective.

Ann Live in LA – Saturday March 18

This Saturday, Ann will be performing for the last time at the Steve Allen Theater, which is sadly being torn down to build condos. The show is entitled Seriously, WTF?! – Dream Girl Reacts to the National Nightmare.

photo ©2017 Austin Young

From LA Weekly:
The longtime Los Angeles resident (by way of West Virginia and New York City) has a new EP coming out featuring her 12-minute opus, “An Open Letter to an Open Letter,” which with its chorus of “Seriously, what the fuck?” (also the title of her show) is classic Magnuson.

“An Open Letter to an Open Letter” is now available on Bandcamp.

Saturday at 8 PM – 10 PM
Steve Allen Theatre, hosted by Trepany House
4773 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, California 90027
Tickets Available Here