Avant-garde pioneers The Residents are set to make history this summer with the first-ever full live performance of their seminal 1979 album Eskimo. The performance will take place on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at the historic Mayan Theater in Downtown Los Angeles as the headlining event of EXOTIKON—an immersive, two-day celebration of mid-century exotica culture. Tickets and more information are available at exotikon.com.
Long considered one of The Residents’ most conceptually ambitious and sonically unique releases, Eskimo deconstructs Western mythmaking through the lens of fictional Inuit rituals, surreal chants, and icy soundscapes. It’s part satire, part sound sculpture, and entirely genre-defying. Despite its critical acclaim—Andy Gill of NME once called it “without doubt one of the most important albums ever made”—Eskimo has never before been performed live in its entirety.
That changes this June, as The Residents reimagine the album in an immersive live setting, weaving new characters, visual elements, and storytelling into the original sonic blueprint. The performance will draw from the original master recordings while expanding on the mythology that has made Eskimo a touchstone of experimental music.
Presented by Peekaboo Gallery, EXOTIKON runs June 7–8 and pays tribute to retro-futurist subcultures with Tiki escapism, outsider performance art, surf and lounge music, and immersive experiences. Day one of the festival will feature opening performances from orchestral surf group CREEPXOTICA, and continue late into the night with a Clifton’s Pacific Seas Tiki bar takeover.
Day two transforms the Mayan Theater into a full-blown exotica carnival, with live sets from Marty Lush & the Singapore Slingers, The Scimitars, and The Satanic Puppeteer Orchestra. The festival will also feature a 25+ vendor vintage marketplace, handcrafted cocktails, and EXOTIKON’s signature XYMPOSIUMS—featuring panels on rum, exotica history, and the Mayan Theater’s storied past.
The Eskimo premiere also coincides with a period of renewed activity for The Residents, following the release of their latest concept album Doctor Dark, an operatic dive into courtroom drama and psychological horror, praised for its depth and orchestration under Edwin Outwater.
This June, one of avant-garde music’s longest-standing enigmas will finally bring Eskimo to the stage—and the myth will become reality.
