Date: 2/20/07
Location: Subterranean
Show: Chances Dance Party with DJs Nina Ramone, Dick Simmons, Lil' V and Ken
Cost: FREE!
Things I missed to be there: The 1900s at Schubas; ft (the shadow government) at Empty Bottle; drinking Shlitz and drawing on my roommate's passed-out boyfriend
Reason for going: It's Monday Gras and I deserve to dance!!!
I finally made it out to Chances Dances. Actually, I went to Chances back when it was at The Big Horse once but it was pretty early and pretty tame. I don't have many opportunities to go to the once a month, Monday evening LGBTQ dance party because my radio show usually places me in Roger's Park about that time, but talking to my friends Rachel and Kyle strengthened my resolve to check it out again.
It was worth it.
I don't know why but I always thought that Subterranean was cursed. Not fun aw shucks something else fucked up The Mutiny cursed, but cursed in a way where I would see bands that I really liked and just not be into it at all. I was really excited to hear that Subterranean was becoming an all-ages venue in 07 but I figured that there'd be little point in it if they couldn't break the curse. Well somewhere along the line they must have because the show was incredible.
The night got off to a rocky start. At ten, there were no more than a dozen people, by ten thirty a few dozen but by eleven they were numbering in the hundreds and the dance floor was, well, everything in the room but the beer line. The DJs switched up a lot, more than I'm used to seeing, which gave the evening a kind of a freeform feel. In an given fifteen minutes I heard hip hop, afrobeat, The B-52s, indie, electro, Rupaul, and disco (in both mutant and solid gold variety). The DJs weren't much for beat matching, if that's your thing, but they had impeccable taste.
The theme of the show was ice, which had the hosts and djs dressed up as figure skaters and penguins (with at least one person playing a glacier). There was also a game of freeze dance and some incredible, Adult Swim style surreal video art portraying polar bears, Al gore and the musician Seal suffering through global warming in the South Pole.
In moving the show from the Big Horse, Chances shed some of the little, dirty, sleaziness that comes with throwing a dance party in the back room of a Mexican restaurant, which is a shame, but they also managed to become a bona fide event, one big enough to completely fill Subterranean on a Monday night. I'm going to probably alter the way I get to the radio show once a month, cuz I likes dancing. I would also mention that Chances now also runs an offshoot night at Danny's, but I can't recommend it because it happens the same night I spin Chicago music at Delilah's, and that shit is better than getting a blowjob from Jesus.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment