G¼nther and The Sunshine Girls at UCSB’s Storke Plaza.
Champagne, glamour, sex, and respect: With a motto like that, who wouldn’t want to be G¼nther, self-proclaimed global citizen? On Friday night at UCSB’s Storke Plaza, the Swedish performer arrived with his Sunshine Girls in tow to sexually arouse Isla Vistans with techno beats, dance rhythms, and sensuous lyrics. For a solid 90 minutes, G¼nther energized the crowd and managed to transform a campus hangout into a European nightclub without even much singing or dancing of his own.
G¼nther’s Euro-digital sound was combined with perfected lip-synching, which floated through the night air as he pumped up the crowd with his sexy 1970s ‘stache, mullet, and tight leather apparel. A blonde and a brunette stood by the side of the pleasure man, appropriately completing the look. But the “singer” wasn’t the only one who looked like a ’70s porn star. The crowd was peppered with G¼nther look-alikes, all hoping to jump on the sexual revolution bandwagon.
Not surprisingly, it was not G¼nther’s musical talents-or the lack thereof-that captivated Friday night’s audience; it was his sexual aura that did the trick. Throughout the entire show, he had his two girls erotically grinding on him while he muttered “sexy” for each song. The Sunshine Girls lip-synched to the electronic tempos and he would insert a phrase or two in a deep, seductive voice.
And while it was clear that G¼nther had no intention of performing live, that didn’t seem to bother the audience members at all. Girls and boys alike went crazy for this falsified musical act. In fact, the performance was suddenly stopped when over-zealous fans tried to repeatedly interact with G¼nther and the girls. Two lucky guys even made it past tight security and onto the stage to touch their sexual hero before the night was through.
But shortly after the musical trio took their leave, screams of “G¼nther, G¼nther, G¼nther” brought them back. They returned for an encore and closed the show with the crowd’s favorite, The “Ding Dong Song.” At the end of the tune, before departing for good, G¼nther announced that he loved Santa Barbara. I have a hunch that the feeling was mutual, since-despite his lack of actual singing-he left the audience completely satisfied.
