R.I.P Lux Interior by Cesar Padilla

Ladies and Gentlemen, meet the Irreverant Cesar Padilla whose band The Ritchie White Orchestra just recently played QBR. Cesar Padilla, a sun kissed rock child of southern California, is a vintage clothing collector, musician, writer, photographer and film director. He has owned the New York vintage boutique Cherry, with partner, Radford Brown since 1997. Cherry has been rated as one of the top 10 vintage boutiques in the world, by The New York Times, Harpers Bazaar, Vogue and Elle. Padilla has written on fashion for The New York Times - Fashion of the Times Men’s T Magazine and Index. He regularly contributes as both a fashion writer and photographer to Fantastic Man, Butt Magazine, hintmag.com. In addition, Padilla has directed two award winning short films Cindy and Squaresville and 3 music videos for east la death metal band Brujeria. Most recently Padilla, completed his second, horror screenplay, which is being adapted into a novel this summer. Padilla also has three bands: Ritchie White Orchestra, Woman of Color, and White, in which he is songwriter, lead singer, guitarist and co-producer. 

 I already missed the Cramps less than a minute after the last time I was to see them and now I miss them even more. I have shed a few tears in the past 2 weeks since the arrival of the devastating news of Lux’s death from a heart condition. A little over 20 yrs ago, I saw what I thought would be my last Cramps show at the what was then the Universal Amphitheatre in Los Angeles. It was big, glossy and felt altogether wrong. I wasn’t into Bikini Girls With Machine Guns and decided it was time to take a break from the Cramps. This break ended 2 years ago at Los Angeles’s Sunset Junction Festival. As my friend Doug and I strolled up to stage right, Ivy let into the first note of a set worthy of years of superlatives. Pelvic, primal, righteous, gnarly, sex bombs landed one after the other. And Lux had nailed it. No more dyed jet black hair, he had realized it was the high road or nothing. Gorgeous streaks of silver/grey ala original Cramps guitarist Brian Gregory had emerged and went harmoniously with his vampire cape. He had morphed into the Hollywood immortal Gorehound him and Ivy had stayed up late watching on television all those decades. This was a class act. Vegas, Hollywood, Transylvania, Liberace, Flash, Dazzle, Prime Grade A entertainment.