This article is the result of sitting down with a good friend of mine, Christina Darling, to talk about the history of the Band she started a few years back, Temptress… let me just say this… Temptress Rocks!
It all started back in 1989… Christina Darling, a local Boston TGirl, formed the Band Temptress. The Band started out as an All Tranny Band, performing primarily in the Boston Area and Up and Down the East Coast. Temptress played straight up Rock and Roll, a mixture of Cover Songs and 80’s style Rock they wrote themselves.
From 1989 through 1995 Temptress appeared in local Boston Venues, on Numerous Television show including Maury Povich, Sally Jessy Rafael, Joan Rivers, Howard Stern, Conan O’Brien and many others. During this phase of the Bands career you could say they had a Gimmick, they were Successful and performing mostly Cover Music along with some original 80’s style Rock & Roll. Christina was playing Rythmn Guitar and Writing or co-Writing music for the Band.
From 1995 through 1998 the band made some major changes. The Girls who were original band members went off to pursue their individual interests, leaving Christina playing Rhythm Guitar, writing music and, it was at this point in time, that Christina started doing Lead Vocals for the Band. Christina replaced the other members of the band with talented, local area musicians who would perform in Drag during their tours. The Songs were coming along, the Musicians were talented, but not Professionals. A couple of Exotic Dancers were added to the Band and Temptress began touring Up and Down the East Cost, doing many of the larger Music Festivals, including South By Southwest, Midem in Europe (at Cannes), Popcom in Cologne, Germany, North By NorthEast in Toronto and numerous others… the band was establishing it’s legitimacy and gathering quite a following.
During the period of 1998 to 2000 the band remained Boston Based, had some Killer Musicians, they added some Go-Go Dancers to the line up, many of the Musicians performing with Christina were Professionals who had played with quite a few Big Name Bands. The music was Superb, but the band lacked Heart. They were becoming well known as a Party Band, their Concerts were known as a place to hear Killer Rock & Roll and a place to Rock Out. Temptress was performing at numerous Conferences and Music Festivals, but other than that, they weren’t doing a lot of Touring during this period.
Now we come to the Present. In 2000, Christina moved Temptress to New York City. They played Limelight and a ton of other Clubs, they performed at the Exotic, Erotic Ball in Cow Palace, San Francisco (the only venue that played host to Elvis, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones), they performed at San Franciso Pride, the Folsom Street Fair, Los Angeles Pride, Toronto Pride and numerous other Venues.
Temptress has a record in the works that was cut with a Major Record Label but will be released and distributed under another label. Keep your eyes peeled, it’s due out by the end of 2004 and it will Rock! Currently Temptress is Touring Heavily, doing about 150 dates per year, some are all ages shows. You’ll even see them do an occasional Biker Party, Frat Party, Sporting Goods event and even an occasional Corporate Event.
Temptress even made it into the Guiness Book of World Records in 1997 for performing in front of the largest number of people in a single day, 2.6 Million People, 2.2 Million of which were in the NYC Halloween Parade alone. They have Emeritus standing at the NYC Halloween Party and they are the Headlining Band with their own Float, and they also have Emeritus standing at the North By Northeast Music Conference in Toronto, their home away from home and one of their largest base of Fans.
Temptress and the Events they perform at are TG Friendly. TG’s and people from all walks of life, all backgrounds, everyone is welcome at their Events. You’ll see alot of Christina Darling Imitators at their performances (think Rocky Horror:-)
So, keep those eyes and ears open for a Temptress Concert in your area and make sure to get off your butts and get out their to show them your Support. You’ll make Christina proud and you’ll have an Awesome time to boot!
Christina has some Wild stories to tell about her experiences on the road. I’ve talked with her about the idea of doing an occasional “Journal Entry” about some of those experiences and we’re planning on sharing some or her more interesting Journal Entries on URNotAlone on a regular basis, so keep your eyes open:-)