We didn’t technically crash it, ok? We had tickets – it just felt like we were crashing it because – well, we are not all that fabulous. I mean, when I am at a party where there are lots of celebrities I do not feel a strong sense of belonging. And there were people I recognized from music videos, gossip blogs, and read about in Page One Q.
But, let me start with a little background on our Saturday evening over Memorial Day weekend in New York City. First off, I am still writing up my notes from the weekend and here it is the following weekend already! And I am excerpting this part out of sequence – you will just have to wait a little while longer for all the juice on the Murakami exhibit. (Of course I need not tell you about him – he’s Japan’s simultaneous answer to, and fabulous exaggeration of, Andy Warhol – but I digress). Shmoopy and I were in NYC on frequent flier points (like an under-employed writer can afford to jet off to NYC otherwise LOL!) and met up with our Boston friends S and T. S and T introduced us to their NYC friends J and G – more later as they are fabulous themselves! – and we did lunch and the Murakami all together Saturday afternoon. OK – you have the set up…
…We left J and G at the Brooklyn Museum, and headed back via subway to the West Village. We ended up getting pizza takeout from John’s on Bleecker (packed!) and we took it back to the studio apartment being lent to S and T for the weekend.
Right in the heart of the West Village, it is the studio of a friend of S and T who is a writer and editor, whom we met in San Francisco when he was here on a book tour a year ago. Now this was what I think of when I picture a small apartment in New York City. Not the expensive lushly decorated and furnished view apartments you see on TV shows, inhabited by people who have “average” jobs. No, this studio was about the size of our kitchen, with a mini-stove, fridge, positioned at the back of the building so no view of Bleecker (but less noise as well). The building had an elevator, so it violated my conception in that regard – it was a fourth-floor “ride up”. It was crowded with bookcases overflowing with books in every direction – no surprise given the inhabitant.
After finishing up or rather scarfing down the pizza, we split up to do our individual errands and get disco naps. Later, we would all be meeting at Webster Hall in the East Village for Ric Sena’s long-running disco party called Alegria. We planned to meet there about 1am.
So off Rick and I headed to cat nap a bit first. We arrived at Webster Hall a little after 1am. No longer at Crobar, Alegria now is held in this venue which is in an area straddling the border of Chelsea and the East Village. Seems there were several events there that evening and one (a straight rave of some type) had a long line waiting outside and snaking down 11th Street. But once we got oriented to the correct entrance we got right in.
Not exactly crowded yet at 1:30am but it soon picked up, and our friends S and T met up with us on the dance floor soon. We did see Colton Ford, singer / porn star, so our celeb-spotting needs were practically fulfilled right at the start. I also saw Cazwell, who sings with Colton Ford, and I believe is a producer as well.
Our little group positioned itself towards the stage-end of the dance floor. We had the usual opening drama of who-had-what, getting equipped with water etc. then staked out our spot. The bathrooms were downstairs, and crowded. There was a very calm woman stationed in the ladies bathroom to hand out towels, sell earplugs, chapstick and other stuff people forgot to bring, and presumably to prevent the stalls from being occupied for other-than-intended uses. I would love to hear her stories sometime!
Even more than Los Angeles, the New Yorkers strike me as being very style and body conscious. Being home not just to theatre acting but also to modeling, and quite a bit of television and indie film production, has a significant impact. At events in San Francisco I think more people are just out to have a fun time, but the crowd in New York seemed to have a high see-and-be-seen quotient. Not that I minded at all. Dancing and mingling amidst people who could all be on MTV2 reality shows ain’t all bad! Some of them were not exactly shy types, either. A gaggle of cute models nearby engaged in some hanky-panky that I thought had gone out with the Giuliani administration. So, it seems life is returning to New York.
Three DJs alternated sets, of varying quality- or rather of varying dance-ability. A singer came on the stage sometime during the early morning and did a number – although I don’t recall anyone getting billing as a performer on the event flyers, and no one nearby me recognized her or the song either. We left early, a little after 5am. We had a good time, but rather than stay and be exhausted the entire rest of the day we wanted to get some rest, and then check out more of NYC. As we exited, people were still arriving. S and T stayed until 7am and said the crowd was still strong then.
Queeristan - everywhere you are 