Thunder Gumbo XXVIII: Cult of the Sacred Cowboy

A non-profit volunteer-produced fundraiser party for the Thunder Gumbo Mutant Vehicle and its legendary trip to Burning Man 2015

10p-6a on Friday, June 26, 2015
@ the Paper Box, 17 Meadow St
Presale tickets: http://cultofthesacredcowboy.eventbrite.com
Presale tickets: $15 / $20 / $25
Door (if available (we expect to reach capacity)): $25 in costume, before 11p, or after 4a / $30 general admission

FREE ADMISSION if you join the cult by letting us shave your head at the door.

With three stages of music, a healer’s area, a silent disco, outdoor smoking area, a roving brass band, tribal bass, giant puppets, big breaks, art everywhere, cult recruitment rituals, live country music, and way more! Join us and follow our gurus, cow-wranglers, ascended masters, ranch-hands, and Goddess circles as we channel Buffalo Bill Cody and John Wayne while chanting Hare Krishna, taking ceremonial whiskey shots, and twerking our prayers with subwoofers, sage, and fog machines, through the spirit of the Pony Express to the ghost riders in the sky...

MUSIC
(way more to come)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Casey Skodnek
Dirtyfinger
Illexxandra
Joro Boro
Myk 2Melo
PartyFoul5000™
Reaganomics
Shakey
Shisaa

The Thunder Gumbo Sing-A-Long Story Time Country Jam Band All Stars featuring Ben Devoe, Matt Namer, Perry Phoenix aka. Perry Bow Wow, and many special guests

THE IDEALS OF THE CULT OF THE SACRED COWBOY:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Deep Authenticity
*Shamanic Capitalism
*Belonging in Togetherness
and
*Sacred Appropriation'
*Manifest out West

ART AND PERFORMANCE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Two full stages of the best DJ’s in West Bushwick
Silent Disco stage provided by BangOn
Brass Band invasion with special guest brass band TBA
Giant Projection-Mapped Cosmic Cowboy Main Stage by Rhizome NYC
Performance of the ancient rites of the Tumbleweed and the Rattlesnake
A visit from the Sacred Cowboy, legendary master of cowboy yoga, who can hold hold his poses for hours, the sacred guru, so stoic he never speaks.
Free “drink our kool-aid” jello shots
Giant puppets
Georgio Carpet, the Human Carpet
Pamphletting, recruitment workshops, networking about Your New Life
Grotesque and magnificent burlesque
Group Belonging Exercises
Body work and healers
Our signature Gumbo service
Surprises! Even surprising to us.

COSTUME SUGGESTIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All white, flowing orange robes, 55 gallon hat, Rival Cult Members with pamphlets, Sacred East meets Wild West, Dalai Parton, Many-armed gunslinger bandits, Bindi Buckaroo, Holding wide open space, Tom Cruise, Sacred Appropriation, A lame horse that needs to be shot, Striking railroad workers, Ascended Master of Bull Riding, Drunk Sheriff, a tumble weed,, ass-less chaps, cow with orange flowers, Rattlesnake oil salesman, the kool-aid guy (the big red one, not brian jones)

Though “Indians” are an important part of the historical narrative of the wild west and the plastic feathered headdresses trending at coachella lately are indeed a legitimate marker of a specific white tribal identity, those choosing to wear a native american headdress costume without invoking specific irony will be greeted as though they are wearing blackface.

THE STORY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The year is 2055. America has fallen, and the world is chaos. The earth is ruined. The rugged beauty of the American West has been strip mined, scorched, and flooded, leaving a patchwork of dust storms, tumbleweeds, and giant murky lakes in the wake of a post-post-industrial wasteland. Robot-driven trucks carry meat, horses, weapons, and barrels of oil across the ruined earth to stock the compounds of mysterious warlords. Ranch-hands and wranglers have been re-trained as robot mechanics or forced into the beef-pod artificial insemination business.

The spurs, lassos, and chaps of cowboys have become mere fashion trinkets for post-apocalyptic hipsters, and have lost their true sacred meaning. Privileged young people pay top dollar to study under the rodeo gurus, show off their designer 10-gallon hats and pretentiously boast about how they were given a cowboy name after completing the teacher training course. Fashion has won out over function, once and for all.

Yet still, the true believers of the Cult of the Sacred Cowboy honor the legendary spirit of the Wild West in all they do. Dressed in over-sized boots, flowing robes, and the traditional Giant Hat, these cowboys and cowgirls gather every year on Jesus’ Half Birthday in secretive ritual, to hoot, holler, and perform ancient rites, in search of the ideals of the Cult of the Sacred Cowboy, legendary master of cowboy yoga, who can hold hold his pose for hours, the sacred guru, so stoic he never speaks.....