NEW YORK — Pornhub presented on Friday the comeback live performance by cult witch house band Salem.
The New York-area show, held at Eldorado Bumper Cars & Arcade in Coney Island, featured go-go performances by Pornhub ambassadors and performers Kira Noir, Asa Akira, Queenie Sateen and Connie Perignon, clad in white one-pieces prominently displaying the Pornhub logo.
The show was billed as Salem’s first live performance in a decade.
The group, comprised of Midwesterners Jack Donoghue and John Holland, emerged in the late 2000s as proponents of a hypnotic, drowsy strand of electronic music with sinister overtones dubbed by influential music blogs of the time as “witch house.”
Promotional materials for Friday’s gig alluded to the band’s “visceral strain of electronic nihilism and singular aesthetic, which found flashes of sublime beauty in the middle American wasteland.”
Starting with their 2010 debut LP, “King Night,” the announcement continued, Salem “amassed a cult-like following, and their enduring impact continues to ripple through the sounds of independent music and the industry. After disappearing from the public eye, they surfaced in 2020 with their long-awaited second album, ‘Fires in Heaven,’ a progression of their classic sound and a culmination of 10 years of collaborative brotherhood through dark times.”
Friday’s show debuted songs from “Fires in Heaven,” with a full band for the first time since its release. Exclusive show merch included a collaborative Pornhub shirt.
Kira Noir, Connie Perignon and Queenie Sateen spoke exclusively to XBIZ about the show.
“Seeing Salem live after all this time was so fucking cool,” Noir enthused. “The music was mind-blowing, of course, but what really stood out for me were the fans. Their fashion, their attitude — and it was equally cool to see die-hard Salem fans decked out in camo and chains get hype during the show.”
Perignon praised the gig’s unusual ambience: “The vibes, fog machine on high, music loud, fans losing their minds — and all in a Coney Island bumper car joint! Outside of the venue, there was a lizard parked with safety cones around him. Only in New York!”
Queenie Sateen, herself a noted dance music artist with NYC-based Sateen, called the PornbubXSalem event “iconic.”
“I was overjoyed to be back home in New York and see so many sweet familiar faces,” Sateen told XBIZ. “Not to mention being flanked by my fellow porn baddies! The music, the vibes, the crowd — it was definitely the most fab place to be in NYC this weekend.”