My friend, Amir, is really looking forward to this. He's never been and is in need of escort. He is smart, as can be evidenced by the following exchange between he and his boss:
Amir: "In Tel Aviv, if you see someone who's on steroids, you know he's gay. Here everyone is!"
Boss: "Gay or on steroids?"
Amir: "Both!"
Besides being a quick study (he just moved here!), he's attractive, gainfully employed and single. He appreciates - very generally and non-offensively - an aesthetic in keeping with that being sold by the Bear/Not Bear guy.
Best comment on this post gets his number and an introduction tonight at The Highline Ballroom.
Memorial Day Weekend 2010! How's everyone holding out? Well? Good.
There's still two nights and two days left to go, though, so...let's get back into it, shall we?
Recurring (Weekly/Bi-Weekly/Even Monthly) -
Tonight (Saturday):
Crisis on Eighth Avenue! is "Dressed to Kill"...literally. Come in uniform/Full Metal Jacket/full military regalia for tonight's celebration of seamen everywhere...and also Gustavo. (1opm, Elevate)
Double-Headed Disco is doing double duty hosting double birthday drinks/affairs for Michael Ventolo and Paul Vitale. The theme is Solid Gold and - being that these kids know how to use a prop - I'm bettin' there'll be gold-plated train/tunnel action for two for your NERVE! (10pm,Nowhere Bar)
Feeling patriotic thinking of all those seamen? I have no doubt ONE of the dozen+ dancers at P3LIGRO tonight will be sporting a flag g-string. It's nearly a given! So what if it's a PUERTO RICAN flag? It'll be stirring (Note I never said your heart) regardless. (10pm, Element)
Arriving at 7:30 was probably a good idea, but without the hoodie I bought on the way there I would have surely died. The doors didn't open until 8:00 and Giant Step only had four (very friendly) staffers to check in the crowd which stretched down the Sixteenth Street and around the corner up Ninth Avenue. At first the winds and dropping temperatures were tolerable for me and my boo and his better connected friends (who know about these wonderful shows). Soon though came the "movie winds", strong consistent gusts that would not relent. Creating an umbrella "bubble room" with new friends in the line we relented, losing one friend in a cardigan, tee shirt, and no socks who bailed into a cab.
Once inside, priorities were simple: bathroom, whiskey, food all before the show. Met in order, the arrival of Monáe to the stage found me with a mini-Kobe in one hand and a fries balancing over a Jameson in the other. (Don't judge; hunger and cold had to be defeated.) Quickly scarfing it down, the fry metal basket was put to the floor for later retrieval (which didn't happen after an impish-looking woman pried her way between us, kicking it away). This was the last moment that my body was my own.
Assorted hyperbolic statements which are all true, but make me feel like a music reviewer for Salon or somesuch:
Signs at the stage warn that no one will be allowed in after the show has started as the performance is not a performance, but a journey.Janelle Monáe doesn't just cross musical genres, she owns them.
Diminutive Monáe is a giant on stage.
Janelle Monáe is a time traveler from the future, here to remind us to respect and relish our previous generations of music.
After the set, we all headed in our separate directions, singing Tightrope into the Chelsea night. As mentioned before, Monáe will be back (performing with Erykah Badu) in June. See you there?
This is a post about Mister Kevin Tachman's photography. Tachman finds small elements of the event crucial to understanding it and brings them forward, be they scraps of paper lost backstage or scraps of emotions found onstage. Mixed with full-stage and crowd shots, his coverage of last weekend's event more than tells you what happened, it takes you there, to the moments that composed the night.
