Review: Lupe Fuentes Mixes it up at Great American Nightmare

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Rob Zombie’s Great American Nightmare at the Pomona Fairplex ambitiously combines both a Halloween Haunt with a concert venue.

On select nights in October, the Fairplex transforms into a dark carnival with creepy monster sideshows where you can staple money on people, buy a purse with fangs, and get chased around by monsters walking about before your show or maze. Truly something that Zombie imagined with the aesthetic aimed at monster fanatics with an eclectic music line-up aiming to attract an array of audiences.

That being said, it was a very interesting choice for former porn star Lupe Fuentes to preview her music at this venue.

Having the opening performer slot a little after 7:30 p.m. at a place where people were barely trickling in was pretty courageous. Between the few people there specifically in attendance to see her and the handful of Plaguerats (fans of alternative feminist performer Emile Autumn) waiting in place for the later show, the crowd was pretty disappointing and later disappointed.

Performing only two songs with the Ex-Girlfriends, Lupe Fuentes didn’t quite work the crowd or show a dynamic. The first track performed “We Are the Party” was very much of pop appeal, dance club beats with fantastic choreography—a good start.

For the very few in the audience who could appreciate the genre, it seemed like a decent introduction to her music despite how out of place it was to the majority there for other types of music. However, her second number was very similar to her first, which almost felt like the first track with some alterations and a questionable lyric. At one point in the song, there is a reference to living the size “00” life, which drew many raised eyebrows and some walking off.

That sort of lyric doesn’t bode well for an up and coming artist by presenting ideas like those about body image. Reinforcing a stigma at a place where you want to present your music, does not make you as an artist relatable. Then, as the second song went on, it became apparent that there was some lip-syncing to the backing track.

It was pretty disappointing. Just when the remaining audience hoped to see something different, Lupe and the girls walked off—after TWO numbers. At the very least, Lupe could have had some fun with the opportunity to have time to showcase her music.

She needed more to appeal herself to the people there and endear her music to those willing to give it a chance. Maybe next time, there’ll be an actual set.

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