« What New Year's Resolutions? | HomePage | I went to London and all I got was ... a DJ gig at Uber, £500 worth of clothes, and a glowing review of the Trannyshack movie »
Tuesday, 21 March 2006
First blog entry in two fucking months!
I gotta admit – maybe I'm just not cut out for the blogging shit.
I mean, damn, it's been like TWO MONTHS since I last wrote anything for this here blog. But it's not like it's because I have nothing going on. In fact, it's just the opposite. TOO MUCH is going on – at least, too much for me to sit down and waste an hour writing about it all. Not when there are clubs to promote, mashups to make, bands to sing with, and parties to go to!
Okay, so what the fuck has been going on? Well ... mostly club and DJ stuff, which is all good. There's now something Bootie-related three out of four weekends a month: Bootie SF, Bootie LA, and Mini-Bootie at Pop Roxx. So there's always a steady stream of "projects" to do, which is keeps us busy. Stuff like...
Seems like we're ALWAYS working on the club in some form or another. Yes, Bootie is our baby – and the baby has been needing lots of attention lately. We had our grand re-opening at DNA Lounge on March 10th. It was a big move for us, moving to a venue that's three times the size. Mysterious D had a theory that if we moved Bootie to a bigger space, that more people would simply magically come. Party Ben and I were a bit worried when we initially made the decision two months ago to move Bootie to DNA Lounge – the space is huge, and we had gotten used to the crammed, cozy confines of Cherry Bar/Annie's ... but damn, that girl was right!
The night was full, and I feel like we definitely still kept that friendly Bootie "vibe," despite the bigger size. Friendly, mashed-up crowd, lots of smiling faces, and a LOT of dancing. Trying to clear the stage for each drag performance was rough, because everyone wanted to jump up there and dance! The Lusty Lady go-go dancers added a sexy touch, without being all bimbo-hoochie (they're VERY Suicide Girls, which we like). Go-go 'it boy' Steven Satyricon was back, now that we have go-go platforms for him! And people were just nuts!
DJ Dada broke out from his "rock mashup" thing and got a dance floor going 20 minutes after we opened the doors! DAMN! Mad props to him ... I thought he spun a great set of choice mashes that bridged the gap between rock and dance. Smash-Up Derby went on around 11:30, and it took us a couple songs to find our groove, but when we did, it felt so ON. Princess Kennedy hopped on stage to go-go dance with us, but rocking out in 5-inch stiletto heels is rough! She accidentally fell onto my co-singer Trixxie, and they both toppled onto Jason, our guitarist – during his big Nirvana guitar solo on "Smells Like Billie Jean" –- and he didn't miss a note! It was brilliant. I'm going to love being in the house band!
Party Ben and Mysterious D did most of the spinning that night, as I was running around like crazy trying to run things! I really need to hire a floor manager next month, because it was actually NO FUN for me trying to crack the whip to make sure all the shows and sets went off on time (which they didn't). But still, we had two of the best mashup shows ever, with Foxy Cotton doing a very conceptual performance to Dean Gray's "Dr. Who On Holiday" that actually was a bit political, and Glamamore, Suppositori Spelling, and Hoku Mama Swamp performing to our own "Beethoven's Fifth Gold Digger," which involved lots of ghetto fabulous posturing. Suppositori Spelling is moving to London next month, so watch out UK, that's all I can say!
At 3 AM, we finally shut down, closing the night once again with Arty Fufkin's "We Belong Together Time After Time." Trixxie Carr had made a whole bunch of pirate decorations for us, and thankfully, they were real easy to take down. We taxied over to the after-party which was NOT at Party Ben's! (He had to fly to Nebraska the next morning ... hey, I thought the only reason we moved the club was to be CLOSER to Ben's for the after-party!)
Anyway, D and I were on such a high for the next few days ... it was a great night ... even though it was freezing cold outside, and it even snowed (which it never does in San Francisco). Can't wait for next month!
London or Bust!
But before the next Bootie, we're heading off to London next week, where we're going to be guest DJing at Uber, an electro/bootleg night put on by DJ Payroll at 93 Feet East, a very cool club in the East End.
This just so happens to fall on the same weekend as the London screening of the Trannyshack movie in the London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (It's been recently re-edited and re-titled Filthy Gorgeous: The Trannyshack Story). Of course, with London being overrun by a bunch of San Francisco drag queens, that pretty much sealed the deal for us. We just HAD to go! So it should be a pretty exciting, whirlwind weekend.
We've rented a flat in Soho with Jason El Diablo and Miss Lynda, and we're all flying over there next Wednesday. Princess Kennedy and our friend Marty are also on the same flight! This is going to be a blast! I'm going to be singing a number at Uber with Holestar – she's a faux queen – and again at the post-screening Trannyshack show at Horse Meat Disco. Definitely mixing business with pleasure on this trip. And I cannot wait to go shopping at Camden Stables Market. Last time I was in London, I spent about $1000 on clothes from Cyberdog, Spank, Combination, and Vicious ... my favorite streetwear fashion labels from the UK. I've been saving up, so don't be surprised if you see me in some new cybergoth duds in April!
I can't believe we're blowing off Bootie LA for London
Yup, we're playing hooky from Bootie LA so we can go to London. This is why we have co-promoters, right? Paul V. and Party Ben will be babysitting for us on Saturday, April 1st, and I'm sure it's all going to be fine. It does feels weird to throw a club without being there though.
But not in LA. Apparently, there are still a lot of people who have yet to hear the sort of mashups that we throw down, so it's still exciting and new. They're really actively participatory – when I send out an email to our Bootie LA list, they actually click on the mashup links. People come up and request mashups that they know you've created. Obscure stuff too! I couldn't believe it when someone came up to request the A plus D mashup, "Real Big Time."
And when Smash-Up Derby played there in February, it was insane! We really need to get our asses down there more often. If only gas wasn't so expensive...
Speaking of the little mashup band that could ... funny how we're starting to get some really good gigs lately. Yes, the band that I pretty much started for shits and giggles, when my career-oriented band Blue Period died a hard death. Besides the Bootie gigs that I set up for us, we're starting to get some really good shows coming our way. About a month ago we played a private party at Great American Music Hall, and we felt like total rock stars. We played every single song we know (about an hour and ten minutes worth, as it turned out) and they loved it. Even got tipped out at the end. Woo-hoo!
I'm starting to realize that I need to send our promo kit not to venues, but to corporate event planners. That's where the money – not to mention our audience – really is!
Two days later we opened up for My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, and we got a great response. We definitely felt the love! It's always weird being in a cover band (admittedly, a very fucked-up cover band, but still) playing with bands that are doing original music – but we always seem to win people over.
Some gigs in the works for Washington D.C. and Seattle ... hopefully they'll come through.
Other random things going on
• Secret CD Project #2 is finally finished. We sent it off to the manufacturer last week. I can't wait for this thing to get out there. Definitely a step up from the last one ... and the cover is all kinds of parody brilliance. I giggle everytime I look at it!
• We played a DJ gig for Yahoo, and a week later flew to San Diego for another Yahoo party. Now that the term "mashup" has been appropriated by the tech geeks, we're getting hired for all $orts of corporate gig$. Trust me, I'm not complaining.
• Marcy Meow moved away. I miss her. (But I have a sneaky feeling that she'll be back.)
• We finally got digital cable and a DVR! Woo-hoo, so high-tech, so "the future is now." I mean, having your life revolve around when a particular TV show comes on (I'm talking to you, Project Runway. And you too, Lost) is soooo last century. Tivo rocks.
• I wish Santino had won Project Runway. I don't care what anyone says, he was our favorite. We even ordered the Santino t-shirt.
• We're seeing Vitalic on Thursday. And Pop Roxx is this Saturday! DJ Oli from the UK will be joining us on the decks!
• We leave for London in a week! Aaaaiggh! I'm glad we just got new cell phones that work over there ... oh yeah, and MP3 ringtones that you can create yourself pretty much rock! Of course, my ringtone is our own "Call Me Hung Up" mashup. Why yes, I AM a dork.
20:35 Posted in Blog | Permalink | Email this
Comments
I'm probably only setting myself up for your abuse, but please do not support Suicide Girls.
suicidegirls.blogspot.com
Posted by: Thomas | Thursday, 23 March 2006