They had the time of their lives: East Village oldies tribute show to ‘Dirty Dancing’ and ‘Animal House’ was a blast

Adrianne Kuss achieves lift-off with an assist from Wolf in the perfect finale to the ‘Dirty Dancing ‘ set

Photo by Bob Krasner

Jana Peri looked — and sounded — like she just stepped out of 1963 as she took the stage  to sing “Be My Baby” with the F*BOMB crew at Otto’s Shrunken Head last Friday night. It was the perfect opening for a night devoted to the sounds of two very different movies which actually shared some common musical threads: “Dirty Dancing” and “Animal House.”

Anchored by a rocking band, various singers took the mic in a format that they’ve been relying on for years. Billed as “NYC’s longest running monthly rock and roll party,” the collective usually appear at their last Thursday of the month residency at Arlene’s Grocery but have been known to pop up all over the place, from Bowery Electric to the Gramercy Theatre. 

Created by Morgan Liebman in 2006, the shows are now produced by Liebman with Mike SOS and Tommy Von Voigt.

“F*BOMB is a musical community that spans all over New York City,” explains Voigt. “There are about 50-60 performers to choose from and every show is different. We do tributes to everything from soft AM radio rock to Prince to Guns N’ Roses and The Misfits.”

Friday’s singers (and player) all brought their A game, including first-timers like Marie Suchan, who made her debut with the group and revealed a musical talent that even her friends didn’t know she had. Opening the “Animal House” set with the classic “Money (That’s What I Want),” Suchan looked right at home. 

“It was really fun and empowering!” she said, adding that “the F*BOMB family helped me overcome my  stage fright when they welcomed me with open arms at rehearsal and into their awesome world of musicianship and intentional pop culture antics,”

Suchan added that the evening had some personal significance as well: “As a kid growing up in the 80s, I spent many a sleepover with friends acting…