I'm not sure where the change came and what the politics are, to be truthful. Different people probably saw the event differently, and I'd love to hear some reaction. Reaction is what I always miss when observing SF spectacle. The Gun and Doll show started out playing in front of about 15 topless women who exited the stage after the first number and left us wondering where the show would go from there. But it was the guys who ended up shedding it all.
Performance really can enhance, deflate or neutralize a song's meaning.
But in some ways it's a dead end - the spectacle will run its course. Which means if performance doesn't expand beyond nudity, it just becomes a crutch. That's what we are going to take a look at for at least a part of our top ten songs this week. For the Marginal Prophets the ploy is just an escalation of an already hyper performance ethos. Josh and Kurt roam the stage while Stark Raving Brad flips around in acrobatic and rhythmic magnificence.