Mx. Justin Vivian Bond brings spring with more Marys than you can shake a Mary, with OH MARY, IT’S SPRINGTIME! At Joe’s Pub

Heigh-Ho, my happy rainbow tribe! Bobby Patrick your RAINBOW review here. Put the silent T in cabareT to bring you all the Ts!

So, my darlings, Joe’s pub was packed and it was all dithering for the return of Justin Vivian Bond with their rock concert OH MARY, IT’S SPRING. Famous for their creation with Kenny Mellman of offbeat cabaret and Broadway-bound lounge band Kiki & Herb Alive On Broadway, Kiki & Herb The Second Coming, Kiki & Herb Seeking Asylum and Kiki & Herb…who knows…ummm Meet Abbott & Costello presumably, Bond appeared solo with their new seasonal gig, OH MARY, IT’S SPRING! On a whim, this sculptural trans-warrior goddess decided to concoct a show entirely devoted to MARY. Married who? We hear you asking, well pretty much ANY Mary who would sit still long enough for Bond to grab the song with her name, or the one that was written by someone named Mary, or by a composer from the state of origin of the lady from MARYland – who really knows because as they told the adoring crowd that night JVB just put the word MARY in their SPOTIFY search and they were off to the races rando-setlist. Now, whether that’s a wise or desperate idea from which to build your full 80-minute set for the legendary pub scene, what they got from all their Mary Mining was a lot of gold. Whether it’s their opening ALONG COMES MARY followed by potty anthem Mary Jane or TORN BETWEEN TWO LOVERS by Mary MacGregor, Mx. Bond’s harsh, cutting, powerful bass-baritone rock and roll voice made everyone a proud Mary (see what Bobby did there?)

The highlight of this very Mary evening, however, was their rendition of Mary Gauthier’s “Mercy Now” sung in memory of Bond’s late father. The musically haunting tune calling for mercy for all, from church to country, gave JVB a chance to show its heart as well as its rock ballad chops in a way reminiscent of Springsteen – bridging the gap between heartbreak rural and urban trans children wherever they might have grown up. Wrapping up their show with MARY ON A CROSS from Swedish heavy metal band GHOST brought out the rock an assault atmosphere that allowed this (soon to be) 59-year-old singer to show his hits at full power, then, afterwards, with IT’S MAY by CAMELOT as an encore after explaining that Vanessa Redgrave had sung it in the film version from the Broadway play and that she once played MARY Queen Of Scots was just the kind of crazy town cherry this Mary Cake needed. Although hard rock and roll was never Bobby’s cup of tea, we have to admit that Justin Vivan Bond’s charm, talent and ability to make us wonder if TRANS-ROCK could actually be a thing, we have to admit we had an amazing time and so, piling it all on the back of THIS Mary, we have to give this rock & roll night a solid…

4 out of 5 rainbows. Check this one out for sure.

The show runs another week from 5/10 to 15 and you can get your tickets: HERE

You can follow all things JVB from their website: HERE

All photos by Yours Truly, Bobby Patrick