Street Fantasies

Sometimes we take the fantasy out of the club and into the street. After last call at Barracuda one recent Tuesday night, Bianca del Rio, Dina Delicious, and I decided to pop into Unicorn next door on our way for a late night nosh at Cafeteria. We decided to mess with the counter person at Unicorn. Of course, Bianca had nothing but nice things to say about Ben Andrews while we were shopping for ... um ... personal items.

A year and a half ago, Cazwell decided to have a Burger King fantasy for his birthday. See if you can spot Acid Betty, Logan Hardcore, James Coppola, and Michael Formika Jones in attendance. I'd forgotten my camera; so I shot footage on my old cell phone. I whipped up a dub version of his song "All Over My Face" to go along with it. Check out the "All Over My Face" video directed by Francis Legge. Speaking of Francis, have you cast your vote for the 6th Annual Pill Awards? He's up for Best Director for another Cazwell video: "I Seen Beyoncé at Burger King." Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

We Carry On (Despite The 2009 OUT Music Awards)

A certain amount of chaos attends any produced event. Finessing it does more that reflect prior planning; it douses whatever firestorm said chaos may spark in the event's attendees. Mismanaging it, as the people working the door for last night's 2009 Out Music Awards at Webster Hall did, left most people who waited up to 45 minutes to get inside hot under the collar despite the blustery night. I refused to let anyone disturb my night. I was there to accompany the fantastical Dina Delicious (pictured below left) and the gang to celebrate the year in LGBT music.

Apparently, however, no one seemed to know exactly where Dina's VIP list was. Each door person barked us toward another. Finally, we made our way inside, into the street level hall where the pre-show presentation was already underway. I managed to make out that Amanda Lepore didn't win Outstanding Video for "Cotton Candy" (although I'm not exactly sure who did) and to see Acid Betty's hair among the sea of people. Kyle, Demanda, DivaSteve, Heather, and I wandered about, lost each other, found each other again, and waited for King Ralphy and Dina to arrive. Betty said hi as she made her way to find some free booze.

My Wonder Twin Brian Mills (pictured above, far right) was texting me to tell me that he and Mike Diamond (pictured above, in the middle, with Jesse Archer) were on their way. Once Dina arrived, the list was still nowhere to be found; so she had to commandeer some OMA Special Invited Guests passes for us to get to the balcony. No worries, we thought. We'll just get situated, toast the evening with our bottle, and enjoy the show.

Once upstairs, we discovered that there were no VIP vodka bottles. At least we weren't told we had to move like the people seated in the first three rows by the stage. Even though they were not marked reserved, these seats were meant for presenters and performers, like Kevin Aviance (pictured above, with Dina). The show itself had its own mishaps, with microphones selectively working and video screens sometimes listing a different award than the one being presented.

Two highlights of the evening that we witnessed: a Gay Hip Hop Evolution performance featuring Tori Fixx, J.R., Mack Mistress, and Da Fresh Geex; and Acid Betty bumrushing the stage when Chelley lip-synced "I Took the Night." I wish I'd been able to get a good shot of Betty. I was laughing too hard, not only because she took the stage from Chelley's "Night" but also because of Chelley's false start. She was nowhere on stage when they first started the song; but her vocals were. I was also happy that Jasper James won for Outstanding Single of the Year for "Rocket." Check out the video, which made it onto MTV, here:

We were excited to see Kevin Aviance receive his Lifetime Achievement Award. I also wanted to see the late Willi Ninja honored with the OUTMusic Icon Award. (America's Next Top Model regular Benny Ninja was in the house, no doubt to accept the award on his behalf). But we were feeling deflated since half of VIP had trickled out already and rows of empty seats below were looking up at us. Dina and I decided to go hit the VIP after party at the Grace Hotel before the show actually finished.

We were greeted by the gorgeous AlieNation duo (featured in Vogue magazine) who threw their suction cup arms up against the elevator doors. Later, as we sipped our cocktails at the bar, we noticed that AlieNation had jumped into the pool. Their arms looked like tentacles as they hypnotically drifted about. We shook off the Award show with a few more rounds and bonded with new friends over stories of our night.

I wanted to go to Amanda Lepore's (pictured below, with Dina) birthday party at BONBON. So Dina and I hopped in a cab. It was so packed that we could barely make our way through the crowd to find Amanda. Along the way we saw Ladyfag, whom I congratulated on her Best Host/Hostess Glammy Award.

Also there was Celso (pictured below with someone she was saying hello to at the time), grooving to a set of 80s electro funk. The synth driving Shannon's "Let the Music Play" slapped me as it always does.

I lost track of Dina for a bit but found two Danny's (pictured below) I hadn't seen out in a while. I also said hi to the rest of my De La Blanca family who was there. I found Dina, too, at a back table with Demanda, DivaSteve, Heather, Kyle, and Tiana.

After a bit, Dina wanted to go to Barracuda. Kyle (pictured below right), Dina, and I cabbed it over. Kyle got us a round of Stoli O shots. I'm not sure when Kyle disappeared or when Logan Hardcore (out of face) and Bianca Del Rio (still out from hosting karaoke at Splash earlier) appeared. Next thing I know it's last call, Logan's going home, and Dina, Bianca, and I are headed over to Cafeteria for a late night/early morning stomach sponge, or what some might call breakfast. Another complimentary round came to our table with our wonderful waiter named Cash, who was Indian; so, of course, Bianca told him how much she loved him in Slumdog Millionaire. Much to our delight, our carrying on about anything and everything seemed to annoy a senior and his several-generations-younger date. After all, Cafeteria is known for its quiet candlelit moments after last call. Then, suddenly, it was almost 6:00 a.m. I had to get a couple hours' sleep before talking to an NYU class about Michael Jackson. I bid Dina adieu to beat the sun home.

The Glammy Monster, Part One

Each year, New York City nightlife's celebrities, celebutantes, and the paparazzi who love to capture them in megabytes all fill Splash on a December Sunday to celebrate Cherry Jubilee's Glammy Awards. This year's ceremonies started off with a bang--actually, two flamethowers from the amazing Modern Gypsies troupe--when Glammy Entertainer of the Year winner Peppermint (pictured below) opened the show. Once the fiery blasts tickled my face in the front row, I understood why security had been so pushy, inexplicably expecting all of us to keep moving back from the stage and through the tables set up on the floor for some nominees and their friends.

Sure, the festivities didn't kick off for over an hour after the advertised 9:00 p.m. start; but getting there "on time" meant experiencing the nominees' grand entrances. Some nominees were awash with the roving camera crew's white floodlight and sprinkled with camera flashes as they tried to find their to the bar to keep their buzz going. One of those nominees was Acid Betty (pictured below), who nabbed both the Best Dressed and the Best Alternative Artist Glammy for the second year in a row.

Someone certainly hit everyone with the gratitude stick this year. When Betty presented an award with her idol, the Chicago-based Jojo Baby (pictured below with Comedy Performer Glammy winner Bianca Del Rio to her left on the left, with Acid Betty to her right on the right), she told the crowd, "I am very pleased and excited to be here because I fucking love this event."

When Betty won Best Dressed, she confessed that her friend Anarexia Hurls dresses her and congratulated her for winning the award. (Anarexia's response? "Oh, Fuck off. I don't care.") When Betty won Best Alternative Artist, she was humbled. "Us queens," she explained, "when we go out--us drag queens and freaks and all that--don't really get people saying, 'Hey, good job!', 'You did good.', or 'We acknowledge your work.' And I think that's what the Glammys gives to us. So, thank you so much for giving that to me and all my fellow girls and boys because I think they're amazing. Thank you so much." It was a far cry from her acceptance speech last year: "I won, motherfuckers! I won!"

Even Epiphany was gracious when she presented two awards with Amanda Lepore (pictured above). She acknowledged that she may not have been the--um--kindest to everyone in the room over the past year but she wanted to let us know how honored she was to be with us, contributing to New York City nightlife.

Of course, we could count on Bianca Del Rio (pictured above) to dampen the love fest. On the back screens, we were treated to a hilarious segment called "Bianca's Minute of Hate," during which she read her fellow queens for their glamour handicaps. Hardly shy, Bianca continued onstage before she and Shequida presented the Best Dressed Glammy. Check out my Flip footage below.

One fantastical highlight of the night was watching my House of De La Blanca sister Celso win Breakthrough Artist. My Wonder Twin Brian Mills (pictured further below with Amanda Lepore) and I put our drinks down to appropriately carry on.

Stay tuned to PhDJ's NYC Nightlife for more coverage of The Glammy Monster, including my own awards for the night itself. It's a good thing I had the camera and the Flip going all night. All those cocktails--plus the ones I had just before the Awards during Mimi Imfurst's fabulous Christmas Celebration--are not the best memory aids. Until then, make sure you walk right up to the next queen or freak you see out and about, look deep into their eyes, and say, "I acknowledge your work. Thank you." For good measure, I'd throw in a "10-10-10-10-10's across the board!"

Tuesdayifying

"Karaoke tells the truth about who you are," Mimi Imfurst (pictured above) told the crowd at Barracuda last night. What I learned about the crowd was that they like Morrissey and The Smiths. I guess they were still happy that Moz was OK after he collapsed onstage at the start of a concert last month, just after he opened with "This Charming Man."

The crowd learned a couple of things about me, too--namely that I used to be Mimi's DJ (check), and that I'm a great one (thanks, Mimi!). She pulled me onstage to chat when there were technical difficulties with the lyrics monitor that took more than a few minutes to fix. "That's what I get for coming early. Like Cazwell," she joked. Such a kidder, that Mimi.

Mimi assembled two distinguished judges for Karaoke night: Logan Hardcore (pictured above), who was giving her best Bianca del Rio impersonation, which consisted of "Hola" and "Si"; and Chandelier Period, who left the wig at the cleaners. It was quite the look last night: Dallas DuBois, Nancy Nosecandy, and Demanda all came sans face. Well, a painted one. All the while, I was trading texts with Celso (pictured below, from February, with my pensive Wonder Twin Brian Mills), who was lamenting that I wasn't spinning that night; she wanted to walk to my beats. She told me that she was coming to meet me. I sat tight.

Mimi and Logan were doing backup for one of the karaoke regulars when Celso arrived with the House of De la Blanca. They were off to see James Coppola (pictured below, from February, also with Brian, less pensive now) around the corner at The Gates. I finished up my cocktail with Nancy Nosecandy, Demanda, and Kyle, my favorite bar back (whose Jason mask I forgot to bring along after taking it home last Friday night), and head out.

The Gates was packed--and it was gorgeous. The DJ was working some fun mashups, like mixing the a cappella of Corona's "Rhythm of the Night" with the beat to Green Velvet's "Shake and Pop." It made me think of the time I saw Green Velvet spin at Mr. Black years ago and left a sweaty, fantastical mess. I thanked James for generously sharing his bottle with me and headed home because I had a mix CD to make--in the morning, I told myself by this point in the night.

I decide to pop into BOYBOX Tuesdays at G Lounge just for a minute to catch the last go-go boy set before I headed home. As I walked in, I saw DJ Drew G. on the phone in the foyer. I waited to say hello. We shared a drink--or 12. We were laughing so hard that suddenly it was 2 hours later and I was in a cozy bar underneath Coffee Shop in Union Square, mesmerized by a friend of Drew's who was cutting up a storm, bouncing like a rubber band man. I came to enough to realize that I had spent all the money I had on me and that I had to walk home. I made a nice discovery along the way: the 24-hour Best Buy in Union Square is open.