Call them party animals!
A Montreal disc jockey who dresses as a marsupial will throw a wild party in Bushwick this month, featuring dancing penguins, brass-playing ants, and a giant spider wandering through the crowd. Kid Koala’s “Vinyl Vaudeville” show, at Elsewhere on May 18, celebrates his latest album, a soundtrack for the dance video game “Floor Kids.” Eric San, Kid Koala’s off-stage identity, says that the collection of costumed performers and puppeteers — including one dressed as an enormous club sandwich — will create a visual feast while he scratches at a trio of turntables.
“Every act, every song as we get through the set is going to get progressively wilder,” said San, who called the distant isle of Manhattan home before decamping to the even more distant land of Canada. “It’s the most dynamic show that I could come up with and fit on one tour bus. For people who want to just witness a spectacle of sorts, we have plenty to offer.”
The show will also feature a “Floor Kids” arcade so that visitors can have a digital dance-off against their friends. Kid Koala created 24 tracks that play during the game’s breakdance battles, marrying musical elements from decades past with the virtual venues — including a video arcade where ’80s electro music blares, and a subway platform for which San mixed a track of industrial sounds.
“We wanted it to run the gamut from ’70s breakdancing to ’80s electro and ’90s 12-bit stuff,” said the scratch artist. “I kind of had everything in the studio, from playing drums to keyboards, bass, saxophone, all the way up to computers and laptops, depending on what era I was going for in the tone. It’s kind of peppered in there to match with the aesthetics of each venue.”
On previous visits to the borough, San has brought robot puppets and limbo contests. He says that adding inventive elements — including this show’s 14-foot trumpet prop — gives a new dimension to the music and offers an excuse for absurdity.
“The stage itself can reinvent and transform every song into a whole other visual spectacle,” he said. “As a show it’s a big playground and sandbox for us to create wild stuff and crack each other up.”
Kid Koala at Elsewhere (599 Johnson Ave. between Gardner and Scott avenues in Bushwick, www.elsew