On May 27, the DNA Lounge in San Francisco hosted a delightfully depraved evening where industrial sleaze met burlesque grit in all the best ways. Lords of Acid, those long-reigning Belgian electro-provocateurs, headlined with a full-throttle set of old-school rave filth, and Little Miss Nasty opened the night with a stage show that doubled as a flesh-forward fever dream.
DNA Lounge is one of those Bay Area institutions that still knows how to throw a party. A hybrid nightclub and live music venue tucked into SoMa’s industrial shell, it’s a place where you can catch a DJ set, a punk show, or a sci-fi drag revue all in the same week. With its scaffolding catwalks, brick-and-neon interior, and split-level stages, DNA knows its aesthetic. The crowd was mostly straight couples in their 40s and 50s, many dressed like they were reliving their warehouse rave or goth club heyday (and some, honestly, looked like they never left). But when the first act hit the stage, a large cluster of single dudes suddenly crowded toward the front. That’s when I noticed the elaborate plumbing pipe jungle gym constructed center stage. Turns out, it was there for climbing and writhing.
After a dark and heavy DJ set to set the mood, Little Miss Nasty took over. They owned it.
It was a fully formed nightmare cabaret, dripping with noir stripper energy and industrial metal stomp. Four to five dancers at a time stormed the stage, working the scaffolding and each other, creating little vignettes of power, seduction, and apocalypse. Think old-school Ot cabaret meets Hot Topic gothcore meets musclebound performance art. It was aggressive, sexy, tightly choreographed, and unrelenting in its confidence. They danced to tracks by Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, among others, threading through scenes with costume changes, storytelling, and plenty of snarling attitude. The whole thing felt like a ritual for the post-club era, ark, theatrical, and soaked in shadowy heat. I hope to see them again.
Then came the main event. Lords of Acid took the stage with a setup that felt more like an acid rave séance than a concert. This band has always occupied that liminal space between electronic body music, raunchy techno, and cartoonishly perverse performance art. It was gritty and energetic. There were moments when the sound mix was off, especially in the midrange, where vocals occasionally got lost, but when everything came together, it really resonated. They delivered what the crowd wanted: a throwback to the golden days of sex-positive, campy, subversive rave culture when Americans could still party in Berlin without being side-eyed by everyone in the room. It was a reminder of a time when the PLUR scene felt more hopeful than ironic and when the body was still a political weapon and a playground.
The current lineup brought serious heat:
- Praga Khan (forever the mastermind) on keys and samples
- Carla Harvey (of Butcher Babies) on vocals—an excellent new addition, all snarl and charisma
- Olivier Adams on programming
- Galen Waling on drums
- DieTrich Thrall on bass
- Creighton Emrick on guitar
They tore through staples like:
- “I Sit on Acid”
- “Pussy”
- “The Most Wonderful Girl”
- “Rubber Doll”
- “Rough Sex”
…and more crowd-pleasers from their vast catalog of sexually-charged techno chaos.
One of the most fun Easter eggs of the night? The venue played My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult over the sound system before Lords of Acid took the stage a not-so-subtle tip of the hat to the upcoming Ministry / Thrill Kill Kult show at the Warfield on June 3. The crossover fans were clocking it.
There’s something reassuring about seeing a band like Lords of Acid still doing it dirty after all these years. Paired with Little Miss Nasty’s stormy, cabaret-style choreography, it made for an unforgettable night of body worship, vintage industrial excess, and good old-fashioned weird fun. In a world that often feels sanitized and algorithmic, this was pure analog filth, and we needed it.
