The past weekend a troupe of drag queens and faux queens took the stage at The Chapel in San Francisco for a glorious, gender-bending production of Radiohead's landmark 1997 album OK Computer, lip-synched in its entirety.
The production marked the second installment of the San Francisco Album Project. (The first was a performance of Yaz's 1982 Upstairs at Eric's.)
OK Computer was already an album filled with nervous energy and dark, seemingly unspoken thoughts on alienation and consumerism. With the added visuals of men (and women) in drag, those themes take on another layer of political and social commentary. The album leads off with faux queen Trixxie Carr in the (semi-NSFW, there's some very concealing body paint) "Airbag":
During "Exit Music (For A Film)" a metallic Nikki Sixx Mile pours her robot heart out:
On album standout "Karma Police," Kim Burly and a robotic chorus overthrow the suits they're forced to serve:
And finally, "No Surprises" ends with a surprise, although it's not necessarily the one you might think, given the performance:
Also not to be missed: the mashup/video backdrop for "Climbing Up The Walls," which puts a dark spin on Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman's "Indiscreet."
For more tracks from the album, check out the full collection on videographer Stephen Quinones's Vimeo page.
Previously: Drag Queens To Perform Radiohead's 'OK Computer' In Its Entirety
The San Francisco Album Project Performs "Upstairs at Eric's"