Voluptuous H of K B, June 2026

Elaine and I saw The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black on June 18, 2026. I ask you: is that one of the greatest band names of all time? Or what. I think I first heard of them in an article in the New York Times on the subject of band names. I’m not sure. Anyway I knew they were a punk band and was always curious about them but not curious enough to actually go to YouTube and check them out. Plus who isn't a big fan of Karen Black?

But then a month ago I got an email from Materials for the Arts (a non-profit we support at work) about VHoKB doing a concert at their warehouse. Two free tickets, why the hell not.

Elaine put it perfectly - - the audience was the star of the show. I’d say about 75% of the audience was people over fifty, the other 25% was in their thirties and forties. We only saw one person under thirty, a cute and rather mousy teenage girl who appeared to be there with her mom.

I told Elaine that I kept looking through the crowd for someone I know but there was no PRAYER of that. I was without a doubt the squarest person there, by a long shot. I like to say that I'm not the mayor of Squaresville, but I do sit on the city council.

The opening act was Jacob Madden, an adorable young pianist.

He said that it’s unnerving enough to open for anyone, but especially for a band as iconic as VHoKB. Plus he was concerned because he was a classical pianist! But he thought we might enjoy what he played and encouraged us to listen. He asked us to forgive the mistakes that he made because he’d never played a piano that had been painted black. What, you ask? Isn’t a piano usually black? Yes, but this particular piano had all of its KEYS painted black.

The piano had a tinny, wonky sound and it was somewhere between badly and woefully out of tune. He didn’t appear to be bothered by it, he still made music out of the medley of Rachmaninoff, Bach, and original music he played. The audience DID listen and applauded him vigorously. Elaine said, “I was hoping that he’d play with a little more artistry but then I realized he’s basically playing a lawn mower.”

VHoKB was founded in 1990 by singer Kendra Pfahler and her then-husband, guitar player Samoa Moriki. Moriki is still with the band - - the current other members are Gyda Gash on bass and Eric Robel on drums. Gash was totally badass, I loved watching her, and Robel was a fierce and TIGHT drummer. Is a drummer maybe the most important member of a punk band? Please, someone answer that question. I had the feeling that Moriki was a really strong guitar player but while I could see him going to town on his instrument I couldn't necessarily hear what he was playing. The sound was fuzzy and gritty, I couldn't quite place individual notes.

Here's a good picture of Moriki and Robel. I'll share a whole slew of photos of Gash at the bottom of this post.

The band also includes two women whose roles are difficult to define. They were costumed identical to Pfahler, in strapless black dresses with a red faux python panel down the center, huge black ratty wigs, wacko black eye makeup, and a white paper bow in the hair. As in a bow-shaped object cut out of white paper. Pfahler was wearing bright red makeup on her face, arms, and torso while the other women were blue. Pfahler was also significantly shorter than the other two.

What did they do, these two women…? They didn’t sing, they didn’t dance. They sometimes assisted in the performance by bringing set pieces on and off but they mostly stood there and pouted. Elaine said this: “I love that the blue girl on the right is such a mouth-breather.” Indeed, her mouth was usually slightly open, the lips curled in a supermodel manner, and her hands bent slightly at the wrist, like Snow White or Barbie.

Pfahler’s look was deliberately artificial and off-putting but her general manner was resolutely ordinary. She sometimes talked to the audience between songs, usually with a wave (even though they were standing right in front of her) and a flat, listless “Hi” totally devoid of affect. It was a hilarious juxtaposition. I understood why she’s seen as more of a performance artist than a musical artist.

She cracked wise a bit. She stopped the band about a minute into one song, saying, “No no no, stop stop. That was a false start, we’re going to start it again. We can do that because we’re not on The Ed Sullivan Show.”

How to describe the music… It sounded like classic punk to me, lots of drive with precious little melodic or harmonic content. But who needs it with that much energy? We were both relieved that the music was loud but not so loud it was painful.

They played for about fifteen minutes and I lamented the fact that I couldn’t understand any of the lyrics. Then, right on cue, they did a song in which I COULD understand the words, a song with a chorus that went like this:

Underwear drawer

Gotta clean out my underwear drawer

Here she is cleaning out her underwear drawer:

It ain’t Schubert but Schubert ain’t punk! That song really kicked me into a high gear, I was dancing in place for the rest of the show.

Speaking of dancing, there was a true Ed Sullivan touch: one song featured a tap dancer! VHoKB: Expect the Unexpected.

Their set was only about forty-five minutes long, which was just enough! I doubt I will see them again but was thrilled to seen them this one time.

I'll close with pictures of the bass player. I saw her on our way out and told her she was possibly the sexiest woman I'd ever seen. She gave me a throaty laugh and said, "Aw, you're sweet."