Baltimore Pride and the Dancing Queen
Over 6,000 people! That's how many people were at the Block Party this weekend when I took to the stage with my band. Talk about nervous? Honey, I was nearly pissing in my pants ... no, literally, I had drank 2 bottles of water backstage and there was no bathroom in sight! So, we get on stage and I have to stretch cuz my band is not all plugged in yet. Great. I don't wanna talk, I just wanna sing and get the hell off! But ... I'm a performer ... so I do what performers do and make it up! The drag king host had said something about getting laid at Pride and if you didn't how you were a loser, so on that front, I said, well, I was single and looking and hadn't had sex in 3 months (ok, it's only been 6 weeks, but 3 months sounded better). Then I thought, hmmm, the first song was about a boy I met at a now defunct Baltimore strip club called "Atlantis", so why not get a guy from the audience to come up on stage and dance while I sang? Bad idea. Bad bad bad idea. It's something incredibly intimidating about looking over a crowd of thousands of people who are waiting for you to do something interesting. The host, much to my relief, picked someone 4 me, only they chickened out. So, I saw this dude's head in front of me, he was wearing blue, waving his hands and jumping up and down "pick me! pick me!" He didn't look like he could dance and he was FAR from looking like a stripper, but I liked his eagerness and thought he would enjoy it. What I didn't know was how wasted he was. So, he ambles forward and gets hoisted onto the stage and I'm praying to God that the band will be ready soon. At this point I don't even have any saliva left in my mouth.
SO, the band is finally ready and we can launch into the first song. Mind you, moonman (that's what I'll call him, you'll see why when I post a pic) is already dancing and grinding me salaciously and the music hasn't even started yet. I told him I didn't want a preemie onstage and to wait for it. So, the music began and I started singing, and we sound good! Only problem, this drunk dude is all in front of me dancing nasty and I can't even sing or get onto the runway. So, I kindly push em out ahead of me so he can "dance for the crowd." Oh my. Let's just say that the host eventually escorted him off of the stage. LOL. I have to admit, he was a good sport about it all and it was all in fun, but I think it completely overshadowed my fifteen minutes up there. My stupid fault. But the second song we did, "Flirt", was fantastic. I think that's our strongest song together as a band. And then we closed with "Deviant".
Now this was the block party. It was, I believe, the biggest turn out Baltimore has seen thanks to RuPaul being the headliner. There were a lot of people in the crowd really digging what I was doing (though some weren't ... it was, as the host said, 'gay rock'n'roll) and it was FANTASTIC to perform in front of that many people. Once I got past my nervousness and started singing, it was, as it always is for me, a rush. The band agreed. And for not playing together for over 6 weeks and only running through the songs once before we went to perform, they were tight as shit! I only wish there had been someway for me to sell CDs like last year, but there really wasn't anything like that. But I least I got the exposure. The organizers of Pride I have to really throw my hat off too. They pulled out all the stops and make this one helluva Pride! And to think they volunteer to put on something of this magnitude. They deserve something! A statue or a holiday in the Bahamas sponsored by all the gracious fags in Bmore or something, LOL.
So, after we got backstage, we were all hoping to meet RuPaul who was performing in the next hour. But nope, we had to clear out. RuPaul didn't want anyone backstage when she arrived. I, personally, didn't realize it was that serious, but whatever. I was like, "tell her I know Ari Gold and I'd like to meet her", (I even link to her blog here) but they were having none of that, LOL. So, we took flight. We went and grabbed some much needed food and a potty then made our way through that enormous crowd to see her perform. (It should be noted I HATE being in crowds like that. I always think a stampede is going to break out and I just don't like being jostled back and forth , having no room to breathe and not being able to get from point A to point B without pissing off random and sometimes crazy people.) When RuPaul finally hits the stage the crowd goes WILD. She looks great, she sounds great, but after two songs, I'm thinking to myself "is this it?" She basically sasheed up and down and side to side singing to her backing tracks, which wasn't bad, I just had expected something with more "flair". Some dancers, or some comedy or ... I dunno ... something that made it all worth the fuss. After she took a break to "change her top" only to come back and do more of the same, I realized I wasn't going to get anything different. So, I left. It took me 15 minutes to walk 20 feet. Now, I think RuPaul is funny as shit and I like some of her songs and she looked absolutely FAB, so that's not to take anything away from her at all when I say I just expected a hotter performance.
So, I took my band members to their car and then, after a little nudging from a couple of my friends, made my way back to Pride to do a little partying. Y'all, I don't know what's wrong with me lately. Usually I'm ready to get my party on and if I wanted 2 have sex ... it was plenty of it there for the taking. I was just so OVER it already. It was cool hanging out with some of my friends, but after little while I just went home. I didn't do the after parties or the after after parties, I didn't go dancing, I didn't even drink (I only had one). I think I've become, momentarily, just so disullisioned with boys and sex and dating and lonliness and love and life and the vicious cycle of bullshit we're thrown into that all I wanted to do was be by myself and sleep. And I found myself wanting to write. But I couldn't because I'm so hopelessly addicted to Coldplay's X&Y. I have to listen to it again and again and again. It's become my lover. Sad but true. It's one of those CDs that's so good it has the uncanny ability to make me never want to write another song because I'll never measure up and also to do nothing but write songs because it inspires so much in me that needs to come out. Not very many records do that and Coldplay now has two to their credit that did it.
So, I feel a little lost right now. My roadmap for the year in regards to my music and where I was going kind of blew out the open window on my way to superstardom. I have to pull off to a service station and pick up a new one. Luckily, there is one in sight. I just have to put the pedal to the metal and get there before I run out of gas.
And my heart is empty and I don't know how or when it's going to get filled. Lately, I don't feel the need to go out and pontificate about anything or be clever or witty or cute for the sake of impressing some transient stranger in my life. I'd rather spend time with cherished friends, and thank God I have those!
So, LJ, no boy stories 4 a while. But, U know, I AM a Scorpio after all. We're apt 2 be ... spontaneous!
"U just want somebody listening to what U say. It doesn't matter who U R." - Coldplay, Square One
SO, the band is finally ready and we can launch into the first song. Mind you, moonman (that's what I'll call him, you'll see why when I post a pic) is already dancing and grinding me salaciously and the music hasn't even started yet. I told him I didn't want a preemie onstage and to wait for it. So, the music began and I started singing, and we sound good! Only problem, this drunk dude is all in front of me dancing nasty and I can't even sing or get onto the runway. So, I kindly push em out ahead of me so he can "dance for the crowd." Oh my. Let's just say that the host eventually escorted him off of the stage. LOL. I have to admit, he was a good sport about it all and it was all in fun, but I think it completely overshadowed my fifteen minutes up there. My stupid fault. But the second song we did, "Flirt", was fantastic. I think that's our strongest song together as a band. And then we closed with "Deviant".
Now this was the block party. It was, I believe, the biggest turn out Baltimore has seen thanks to RuPaul being the headliner. There were a lot of people in the crowd really digging what I was doing (though some weren't ... it was, as the host said, 'gay rock'n'roll) and it was FANTASTIC to perform in front of that many people. Once I got past my nervousness and started singing, it was, as it always is for me, a rush. The band agreed. And for not playing together for over 6 weeks and only running through the songs once before we went to perform, they were tight as shit! I only wish there had been someway for me to sell CDs like last year, but there really wasn't anything like that. But I least I got the exposure. The organizers of Pride I have to really throw my hat off too. They pulled out all the stops and make this one helluva Pride! And to think they volunteer to put on something of this magnitude. They deserve something! A statue or a holiday in the Bahamas sponsored by all the gracious fags in Bmore or something, LOL.
So, after we got backstage, we were all hoping to meet RuPaul who was performing in the next hour. But nope, we had to clear out. RuPaul didn't want anyone backstage when she arrived. I, personally, didn't realize it was that serious, but whatever. I was like, "tell her I know Ari Gold and I'd like to meet her", (I even link to her blog here) but they were having none of that, LOL. So, we took flight. We went and grabbed some much needed food and a potty then made our way through that enormous crowd to see her perform. (It should be noted I HATE being in crowds like that. I always think a stampede is going to break out and I just don't like being jostled back and forth , having no room to breathe and not being able to get from point A to point B without pissing off random and sometimes crazy people.) When RuPaul finally hits the stage the crowd goes WILD. She looks great, she sounds great, but after two songs, I'm thinking to myself "is this it?" She basically sasheed up and down and side to side singing to her backing tracks, which wasn't bad, I just had expected something with more "flair". Some dancers, or some comedy or ... I dunno ... something that made it all worth the fuss. After she took a break to "change her top" only to come back and do more of the same, I realized I wasn't going to get anything different. So, I left. It took me 15 minutes to walk 20 feet. Now, I think RuPaul is funny as shit and I like some of her songs and she looked absolutely FAB, so that's not to take anything away from her at all when I say I just expected a hotter performance.
So, I took my band members to their car and then, after a little nudging from a couple of my friends, made my way back to Pride to do a little partying. Y'all, I don't know what's wrong with me lately. Usually I'm ready to get my party on and if I wanted 2 have sex ... it was plenty of it there for the taking. I was just so OVER it already. It was cool hanging out with some of my friends, but after little while I just went home. I didn't do the after parties or the after after parties, I didn't go dancing, I didn't even drink (I only had one). I think I've become, momentarily, just so disullisioned with boys and sex and dating and lonliness and love and life and the vicious cycle of bullshit we're thrown into that all I wanted to do was be by myself and sleep. And I found myself wanting to write. But I couldn't because I'm so hopelessly addicted to Coldplay's X&Y. I have to listen to it again and again and again. It's become my lover. Sad but true. It's one of those CDs that's so good it has the uncanny ability to make me never want to write another song because I'll never measure up and also to do nothing but write songs because it inspires so much in me that needs to come out. Not very many records do that and Coldplay now has two to their credit that did it.
So, I feel a little lost right now. My roadmap for the year in regards to my music and where I was going kind of blew out the open window on my way to superstardom. I have to pull off to a service station and pick up a new one. Luckily, there is one in sight. I just have to put the pedal to the metal and get there before I run out of gas.
And my heart is empty and I don't know how or when it's going to get filled. Lately, I don't feel the need to go out and pontificate about anything or be clever or witty or cute for the sake of impressing some transient stranger in my life. I'd rather spend time with cherished friends, and thank God I have those!
So, LJ, no boy stories 4 a while. But, U know, I AM a Scorpio after all. We're apt 2 be ... spontaneous!
"U just want somebody listening to what U say. It doesn't matter who U R." - Coldplay, Square One
posted by Saturn at
11:44 AM
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