Friday, October 2, 2009

The Inaugural Gala


Well, folks, tonight is the night. It seems like just yesterday that I was washing my hair making coffee laying in bed doing laundry brainstorming while listening to a totally sick live Madonna song that incorporates "I Feel Love" into "Future Lovers" (Have I ever typed a gayer sentence? Let's throw something about Liza, throw pillows, and track lighting into there and call it a day.) when I thought, "God, there is really no dance party in this city that I want to go to." I've been to Santos and found it overwhelming, especially since I don't do party drugs (unless you count accidentally inhaling whip-its while getting ready to eat apple pie); Hell's Kitchen bars play nothing but grinding pop remixes of Heidi Montag songs; and there's nothing we found that we liked in our favorite neighborhood, the West Village.

I knew that I wanted it to be disco, I knew I wanted it to be in Greenwich, and I knew I wanted it to be intimate. I started thinking about doing something that was a nod to Paradise Garage when Austin, who I'd quickly brought on board to be my collaborator, suggested the name: Paradise Lost. It was perfect: not only did it dig up all kinds of Biblical issues, it eluded to something that made me want to throw the party in the first place: places like Paradise Garage have completely died out in New York City. A DIY, underground temple to dance doesn't exist in today's New York, with its 24-year-old hedge fund babies and secret Marc Jacobs warehouse parties. Paradise (Garage) has been Lost.

If all of this seems like so much heady bullshit that will be completely lost in the swirling melee that is actually throwing a dance party, well, you're probably right. But it's why our first poster features a picture from a dance held at the Firehouse, the headquarters for the Gay Activists Alliance, and why we're playing everything from "Don't Leave Me This Way" through The Gossip and Sam Sparro, emphasizing music that's been important to queer people--especially when those queer people want to sweat--for 30 years.

If nothing else, it'll be a wonderful experiment: to see if we can get people to come back down to Greenwich Village, get them to come to a bar they don't associate with dancing, get them throw off their inhibitions and dance their asses off, shooting up a positive energy the likes you don't often see in New York City. Someone has to.

1 comment:

  1. This is a party not to be missed---had a blast! Looking forward to the next fortnight!

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