On December 28 & 29, 1979 (33 years ago!), James White & The Flaming Demonics made their their premiere performances at The Squat Theatre at 256 West 23rd Street. The photos in this post, including the astounding find of the Anya Philips guest list from the event, are courtesy of The Squat Theatre.
Besides the two night stand by James & his band, James & Anya had also programmed some dates leading up to the Flaming Demonics shows: "The Little Devils Club Presents a Week of Dance Party: After Hours Dance For Lost Souls," Dec. 24-27, 1979.
According to the Squat Theatre website: James previews his new band, which is
essentially Defunkt with James as frontman. The only holdover from the
old Contortions is Patrick Geoffries on guitar. The Defunkt lineup was
augmented by Vernon Reid on guitar and John Purcell on saxophone. There
would remain significant overlap between the membership of Defunkt and
the Flaming Demonics/James White and the Blacks for the next few months,
although eventually James established his own distinct rhythm section
so that he could tour.
