Transformation in the smallest spaces

Celebrated rock star Julie “Badass Panda Warrior Queen” Moser returns for a four-week show at the Starlight Lounge main stage at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hilton in July.

Best known for her standout live performances that have often been compared to watching a star boogie dance (“Get Down!” as Moser says), the vibrant badass has so far devoted a significant amount of her time to renovating the space. The stage is adorned with cards, charms, tinsel, and blinking lights, an environment that she feels will welcome things to come.

“We live in the intersection of love, light, and profound mystery,” she said during a recent interview on Seattle’s KEXP, adding: “You have to bring the music with you.”

The show marks an exciting, but friggin’ terrifying, transition period for the artist. During the midpoint of the performance, she intends to demonstrate the power of ecstatic transformation, literally building a new blood system (with the help of a German friend).

“We change ourselves every day, and I have always embraced transformation as an acknowledgement of the mysteries of being,” Moser told this interviewer. “But this time I wanted to go further, to become change at a fundamental level and not only as an aesthetic expression … to show the necessity of transformation while simultaneously acknowledging the essential, unchanging and vital qualities of life: Light, love, music, friendship, kindness and badassitude.

Moser has been training for this moment since January 2021, when she began exorcizing deadbeat blood cells from her body. These workouts required concentration, focus, and support from loved ones, friends and a special animal Moser’s partner refers to as ‘a sausage-shaped lifesaver.’

“I’ve walked this path with so many people and in real ways, they are here with me now.”

During the “transformation” portion of the show, donor cells will be infused into the 48-year-old performer. These cells, like Julie – hell, like all of us – have come a long way, baby, and yet they will tirelessly work through her body until they seed in her bones themselves. Once there, they will rewrite her DNA so that she produces new, healthy blood cells.

“It is literally rebirth,” she says, “an opportunity to grow in new ways.”

Those wishing to send cards to the Baddass Panda can write at 25 Conant Drive, Concord, NH 03301. There is also an Amazon wishlist at the following link (we join those who wish for a better option than Amazon, yet it’s been a life saver for an immunocompromised critter): https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/SCS46K96PQPH?ref_=wl_share