Tony and the Kiki Rock Carnival!
by Steve Desroches
In today’s digital-media landscape you do indeed only get one chance to make a first impression, but what used to be a matter of minutes is now down to a nanosecond as people scroll at warp speed, pausing only when an image releases a dopamine hit and makes them stop. For musicians Anthony “Tony” Alfaro and Rodney Bush, posting covers of some of their favorite songs from the 1970s and 1980s became a way to try and garner some attention to a new musical project the longtime friends had started. Inspired by the days of glam rock and disco, the two created an updated look, mixing facial hair with make-up and glitter, with Tony rocking a Freddie Mercuryesque mustache and a blown-out, shag, school-of-Suzi-Quatro mullet. And it’s the hair that often stops social media traffic. It became a phenomenon of come for the mullet, but stay for the music, thus launching Tony and the Kiki towards stardom.
Over the past year Tony and the Kiki have been a bit of a glittery earthquake, providing a decidedly queer bent to rock and roll, both in sound and aesthetic. The two “queens from Queens” have been doing the New York City hustle for over a decade now, taking various gigs and roles on stage as well as hammering away at “survival jobs.” The two met when Alfaro was a student at the Boston Conservatory and Bush at Berklee College of Music, before the two schools merged, when they both were working in a production of The Rocky Horror Show. Bush was the musical director and Alfaro portrayed the beleaguered alien handyman, Riff Raff. On the first day of rehearsal, an instant connection was made. “He came in singing ‘Feeling Good,’ that Nina Simone song, and I thought, ‘I’m going to hold onto that voice for as long as I can,’” says Bush.
The two fast friends made their way to New York, and though a grind, found consistent work, though it was always on someone else’s terms or a vision of another artist. And then the pandemic hit and all of that work disappeared. So, Alfaro and Bush began creating music together, first covers and then sitting down and writing original works. It was then that they realized they both shared a passion for similar music and artists; Blondie, David Bowie, Marc Bolan from T Rex, Scissors Sisters, and then the two decided to perform the entire first album of Led Zeppelin, performing live in 2021, once pandemic restriction were lifted, at the Mercury Lounge on the Lower East Side and then at C’mon Everybody in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. As live performers, being on stage in front of an audience let them know that Tony and the Kiki was a hit with a fabulous pair of hairy legs that could carry them far.
“Not to sound cocky, but we believe in the power of the music,” says Bush.
“We felt this special vibe,” says Alfaro. “We found this different sound. It’s joyous. It’s gay. Gay, gay, gay. We have full agency as to what we play, how we sound, and what we wear. It’s so queer. It’s like being a Bob Mackie knock-off with a hairy chest. That’s us.”
It wasn’t just the sound, but the freedom that Alfaro and Bush found intoxicating. To be as gay as they wanted in a world that still asks LGBTQ artists to tone it down and not be so…you know the “F” word…flamboyant. But that’s just it, Tony and the Kiki is flaming and fierce, and they flaunt it. And by Pride month of June in 2025 they were playing all over New York City, threatening to lead a rainbow takeover of July if anyone asked these queens to tone it down or gave them any homophobic crap.
But come the end of Pride they did feel in a bit of a funk, so they began posting videos of themselves performing in Bush’s apartment, that he shares with two older gay dads and their children, recording in those brief times when he had it to himself. And those videos went wildly viral, giving them fans all over the world, followed by a flood of bookings and gigs, including an American tour in the beginning of 2026 with the electronic dance/industrial band Lords of Acid.
“There’s this sort of Venn diagram when it came to the crowd, where we share some crossover, but not entirely,” says Bush. “We were performing in the panhandle of Florida and I looked out and thought, ‘Oh, they hate this.’ I was in my head for about two minute and then thought, ‘I’m going to be gay as hell.’ Tony was already there. We just were going to be ourselves and not care what anyone else thinks.”
Provincetown is a long way from the “Redneck Riviera,” and when the Provincetown Business Guild reached out to book them as Carnival headliners it was like receiving a message from the mothership. Tony and the Kiki will take over Town Hall on Wednesday, the night before the parade, with a concert for the ages. And the main floor will be completely open for plenty of room to dance as the glam-rock duo presents a show prepared just for Provincetown Carnival. Alfaro has never been here, and is overjoyed to play Carnival as he’s heard so much about the event back in New York. Bush has visited and worked gigs in town before, but always remembers a field trip he took in the sixth grade for a whale watch when he saw his first drag queen ever. As Tony and the Kiki continues its ascent, they promise to make this Provincetown date one to remember.
“Provincetown can expect an absolute party,” says Alfaro. “They can expect queerness and absolute self-expression. It’s an escape, too. An escape from all that’s wrong in the world. It just going to be queer joy!”
Tony and the Kiki perform with special guest Jujubee at Provincetown Town Hall, 260 Commercial St. on Wednesday, August 19 at 8 p.m. Tickets ($65/$75) are available online at ptown.org and at the door the day of, if not sold-out. For more information call 508.975.6394.
