Part burlesque show, part psychedelic stage play, Kid Koala’s Vinyl Vaudeville hits Johnny Brenda’s this week

In the early 2000s, DJ / composer / author Kid Koala (birth name Eric San) established himself as one of the most unique voices in hiphop’s Turntablism movement. Growing out of the fiercely competitive DJ Battle scene, the sub-sub-genre blossomed into a musical style of his own where DJs stepped back into the spotlight, using their turntables as instruments to explore the farthest limits of sound. Koala’s debut Carpral Tunnel Syndrome (Ninja Tune) is a masterful collision of breakbeats, quirky samples and mind-bending scratches that has been hailed as a landmark of the genre.

Over the course of the last two decades, San has infused the spirit and practice of Turntabalism into a venerable multiverse of collaboration, solo and band projects. From the futuristically cartoonish Deltron 3030 project and Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz to the sample-heavy hard rock of The Slew, Koala’s penchant for boundary shattering experimentation has shone through.

For the better part of the past decade, San has been bringing this sense of experimentation to the road with with his Vinyl Vaudeville show. Part burlesque show, part psychedelic stage play, Vinyl Vaudeville will be coming to Johnny Brenda’s Thursday, May 17th. San’s outrageous musical and visual aesthetic comes to life with dancers, ogres, robots and, giant drum machines and his own prodigious scratching and mixing.

Kid Koala’s vinyl vaudeville comes to Johnny Brenda’s on Thursday, May 17th. Tickets and more information on the show can be found at the XPN Concert Calendar.