It has been so long, all of one weekend before the last time I ventured into the world of the late night hang. I guess I was due for some fun even after a slightly shorter workweek, for myself anyway, and I there I was stepping out into the night once again.

On Friday I headed over to the crowd that was SBNY. The place was very full of both in and out of towners and did a good job of packing them in for a non-holiday weekend. Our DJ for the evening was Max Rodriguez, always known for his high energy vocals and keeping the boys dancing well into the night. He kept it current and on point and the men out to dance responded. My favorite bartender Sir Brett of the back bar made sure the drinks kept coming and the night moved forward very nicely. From Beyonce to Britney, Missy to Madonna. We danced to it all and had a great time. Left the place at 4am. Made sure to rest up and hydrate for the next time.

Saturday night I checked my evenings options and decided to go out on the town once again. Although the majority of my group of friends was unable to attend I decided to head into the city and enter the realm of Rox. I replaced my Visine at the pharmacy and called for the car service. Although the first company was out of vehicles I was able to find another close by that got me into town in short order. I was able to give directions to a British tourist who was heading in the same direction and after saying hi to our favorite Domicis of the Door, Derek, it was once again inside to see what the boys were up to. Peter once again spun a musical journey for the boys to travel the room with and enjoy the beats. I found myself moved into various places at different times of the evening. Hanging at the front bar with Barman Barker, who worked so hard he broke his register. Then hanging in near the stage with the boys dancing. Dancing on the boxes near the wall across from the stage. Changing stages as the mood struck. I saw one poor boy take a tumble from a speaker to his his side on one of the boxes. Rule number one, Never party until injured. The party needs you. So don't try too hard. Not without the proper training anyway. So we stayed until after 4 and then made our way back home. Cab Drivers can be shady at even the happiest of times so I put on my out of town tourist attitude and snagged myself a ride home. Afterparty flyer in hand and walking from the club looking single-mindedly for a ride was definitely the move to get home most soonest.

Until the party starts again. Keep it up guys.

Yes I was there for the Black Party Weekend. (Of Course).
The first time I ever attended a circuit event was the Black Party 4 years ago in the year 2000. So I was definitely planning on going again for the 4th time.

I started off the Black Party Weekend going to SBNY for Friday night and checking out what DJ Billy Carroll had in store for the kickoff of the weekend. Billy definitely had the decks warmed up and moving for the crowd and I was definitely feeling the vibe he threw out to the crowd. The decor was dark, the place was packed, and the drinks were flowing as we danced away the evening until 4am. I was very happy they had picked Billy to start off the weekend as he truly is a DJ that can play a small space and make it feel like you are attending an event. I can definitely remember several musical peaks for the evening and was certainly put into the mood to look forward to all of the music I was to hear for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday was spent resting up staying hydrated and planning my arrival time for the Black Party. Since all of my friends were not going to the Black Party this year I actually made an appearance at two venues this year and went to the Roxy first. Since it was not to be my final stop for the evening I was not holding up high expectations for Peter Rauhofer. But I guess he must have used his extended stay away from the decks at The Rox well and definitely threw in some surprises for us. I was having a great time and very happy I came and saw and hung out with part of my crew but just as Peter was playing "Thats It" (great song with the Godzilla roar mixed in), it was time for us to move to the next party before we blew off our ticket price. Catching the taxi outside at 2:30am was not the easiest thing to do but we made it through the tough times and soldiered ahead. We waited in the rain a bit as the search at the door got rid of the bad element and then made our way inside. The coatcheck took forever (it always does) and I was finally ready to make my way onto the floor. I was happy to see an
energetic crowd and was immediately into the beats that DJ Paolo was playing for the men in black. I was very much looking forward to hearing how he was going to spin for such a long set and I was not disappointed. I enjoyed hearing him in 2002 and was even more impressed this time around. I was moved to make two appearances on the stage and the second time was there for his finale at 6:45am. I stayed to listen to some of Susan's set as well but me
and mine eventually had to leave the party and make my way home. It was a great time I got to have with my friends and saw a lot of people I had not seen in a long time. I also thank the Daddy who grabbed my while I was on the stage. I guess I was that bit of the party that he wanted to reach and out and hold onto for a while but alas I was not to be so easily contained. Its nice to see such a wide variety of boys in such a large space. Glad I stepped out into the black once again.

Of course that wasn't the end of my weekend. I also got myself booked up for the Alegria at Crobar for the Alegria Xtreme. I was not sure how crowded it would be for a non-holiday weekend but I definitely should have known better. The crowd once again coalesced and they all were there to shake it for DJ Abel. He was definitely on for this set as I was happy once again to dance with the boys for hours at a time. No rest for the wicked so I guess the wicked were all at the Alegria with me that overnight. I especially liked the mix Abel threw on called "Free My Ass" which I think included voice-over from Wanda Sykes. That, the Alegria Song and a couple of old favorites and even the impromptu birthday celebration in the DJ booth were some of the great moments of the weekend. Thanks to Brenda at the VIP area and the rest of the Alegria staff. Keep the party going and I guess I will see you again at Pride.
Now I guess the wicked do have to rest after all.
Peace.

Another week of work has passed. Allergy season has kicked up with both feet and made me a little more sluggish than usual. I have to stay hydrated and take the Sudafed. When I am truly desperate to breathe I take Extreme Congestion Relief Zicam - the stuff truly works, just follow the package directions closely. Of course the weekend cannot arrive fast enough. I was feeling kind of good, well rested, taking multivitamins and very looking forward to a great weekend.

Friday Night, March 5, I got off work, went home, worked out, showered, closet shopped, outfitted, status checked and then left the building. I tried on a new mix CD in the car but it was too mellow for a club night out. Ended up mostly fast forwarding. Anyway I arrived before midnight, checked the coats and was immediately into the mood of the rooms groove. The DJ of the evening was Alex Lauterstein and once again he played music geared more towards the New Yorker rather than the out-of-town visitor. From the beginning of the night until it was time to leave (around 3am) I proceeded to dance and dance again. I chatted it up with my friend Bartender Brett and discovered that he had been unable to logon to my blog. Maybe it was down. Hopefully I have been telling my friends the right address to log onto. The evening even premiered some new dancers at Splash who were a nice change of pace from the same old same (liked the tan lines) but enough of that. I enjoyed the scene, danced until I left and had a great time hanging with my friends. I made my speaker appearance around 2:30 and Alex kindly put on "Big Room Drama" so I could do my dance and leave happy. I did have to fight for speaker space with a drunk guy but these are the hazards of the club. Just gotta live with it.

The next day I found I had probably not gotten as much sleep as I should have. This was of course exacerbated by having my house painted. I thank my Saturday bartender for the 1 extra bottle of water I had in my refrigerator that I was able to procure for myself in the middle of my plastic sheet covered living room and kitchen before I passed out in my own house from the humidity and of course the smell of paint. But that which does not kill you makes the house look better and once that task was over with I was able to complete my recovery and catch a quick nap.

Saturday Night came quickly enough and despite the heat earlier in the day the forecast called for it to turn colder as the night progressed. I made sure I dressed for the inevitable wait on the line outside. Derek kept it moving however despite the onslaught of boys at the door. Even the the dunces who came to party without a wrap to keep them warm didn't die from exposure. I still relished the warmth once I stepped inside and quickly warmed up to the party too. Our DJ for the evening was Tony Moran, of Alegria fame. I was looking forward to hearing him at Roxy because I had not yet heard him spin and since he has done many a circuit party and a few mix CDs I wanted to know what he sounded like. I hit the bar for my signature Stoli Orange and Red Bull and proceeded to get the party shifted. (Thank You Barker for the great drinks). The party mood seemed to build as when I first arrived at 1am it was a laid back groove but Tony reached down and pulled up the beats, and I thoroughly understood the party as it spun its web over every boy in attendance. I was definitely not disappointed and was happy I finally heard his mix of "The Alegria Song". I enjoyed seeing several friends and felt that the party flowed like the truly good nights do. I even was one of the proud and the few that rushed the stage to pick up a Winter Party CD (It was a release party after all) I haven't gottent to hear the CD mixed by Tony yet and it definitely seems like a more Miami vibe than the New York flavored mix he spun for us that night. He certainly had something in the set for everybody and seemed to at moments touch on aspects of all of my favorite Roxy DJs (which is pretty much all of them anyway, since I usually know what to expect from my Roxy night anyway, a good time). I ended up leaving the place at 5:30. Another night made memory. Looking forward to the warmer weather and warmer parties ahead. See you at the dance.

First off, yes I have been somewhat amiss and left a week out. Even hopped up bunnies such as myself need time to catch up on some other issues, (family, taxes, the usual worldly drama) and even the blog falls way down on the to do list. But here I am back on the case and ready to sort out the scene.

For the weekend of February 20-21 I did in fact go out. The Friday jump-off was all good with David Knapp spinning at SBNY and the usual crowd of boys to keep the place jumping. The weekend after the holiday weekend was a little different, a light crowd with a lot more local boys than usual. A quick walkthrough of the premises showed that even though the dance floor was not packed at first the club was filled through sort of evenly. No reason to crowd together when you have plenty of spaces to be. David threw on some Victor Calderone ("Resonate") as well as some Britney ("Toxic") and kept the boys attention well into the evening. I left around 3am, got my ride home and began the long process of saving myself up for the next evening.

Saturday at The Rox was another night of Peter. That guy is definitely one of hardest working DJs around. With all of his production work behind the scenes (sorry you lost that "beautiful" Grammy to that Beyonce song) as well as his constant reappearance at the Roxy to DJ you wonder when he gets to do anything else. Once again though he told the story well with the beats and took us another textbook Peter groove. The evening never truly blew the roof off but it was definitely a fun time had by all and the boys seemed to leave happy.

Now coming up on this past weekend (this morning ) 2/28 I actually had planned on going out on Friday as well, with the long weekend of work and all and the pressure to unwind piling up but family issues kept me out of the club for one more night. No great loss though as I was able to save up all of my energy for a night with Manny Lehman. Yes, Manny has returned to the Roxy and it looked like all the boys returned as well and were had waited with baited breath for the occasion. Manny definitely attracts one of the more diverse crowds (and if the line outside was any indication, it geared up to be a highly attended evening) As soon as I stepped up to the main floor the energy of the place was definitely kicking and the music only got better the later it got. I saw a lot of my friends that I had not seen in a while as well as all of the usual party suspects too. I bought my first round of drinks from Barker (Stoli Orange and Red Bull) and from that point on the evening proceeded to proceed. At one point of the evening I was hanging out near the front bar on the wall side away from the dancefloor and it almost seemed like everyone on our side of the bar was someone we knew or was with someone we knew. I felt like I was famous (well almost anyway). I cannot say how many times I said Whats up and who you with, how many times I spilled drinks on people (carrying four drinks back to your friends takes special skills) and how many times I just had to go out and represent my space on top of a speakerbox (give back to the people, show them something special ). At one point I even saw my favorite Friday night bartender moving through the crowd with his friends but he was too far away to say hello to, so I'll catch up with him next week.

I will once again proclaim I had the ONLY time on Saturday night. The one slowed down but classic music moment was when he played the oft remixed Mary Mary ("Shackles") and then segued into a truly Manny tribal explosion. Also heard during the evening were Kelis ("Milkshake"), Amuka ("Appreciate Me - DJ Paulo Mix") and Superchumbo ("This Beat Is - Victor Calderone Mix"). After a while it was hard to find our whole crew, we were so spread out across the place, but as always the few choice moments of re-meeting up made for easy status checks and information gathering. At 5am I was still on a speaker, lighting up the crowd, and getting more and more happy that I had arrived in the place to be and be seen. I hope everybody else had at least half of the fun that I had. It was definitely one for the clubgoing record books.

However I can never understand the boys who take their party so far they end up sleeping part of the night away on a couch while their friends sit by and keep guard. You pay good money to go and hang out and then you sleep in the place. This is why we stay ahead of the party and get our disco naps in and take our GNC vitamins. A boy has got to live to party another day.

Well, until we meet again, stay healthy, stay safe and drink your water. Peace out.

The President Day / Valentine's weekend has finally passed but not uneventfully. A lot was seen and plenty was done.
I had all of the accoutrements, the clothes, the schedule, the friends and all of the fun mostly planned out.

Friday saw the usual stopover at SBNY. The place was lit very dramatically and the music was pumping the bass. We went and checked out how Mark Tarbox planned to spin out the evening. The DJ set was very on point (from Monica and "Get It Off" to Destiny's Child and "Survivor") and the long weekend crowd definitely packed into the place. The place had plenty of men, three simultaneous bar dancers and the ever present and very necessary Splash bar staff made sure the night was good. Even after some of my crew went home I stayed until after 4am to see what would come on next. It was a nice dance bug I had and I definitely got to work it out.

Saturday of course was my first outfitted event of the year, yes I did attend The White Party. Me, a regular attendee of the Black Party needed something to do on Saturday night of a three-day weekend. So it was to Macy's I did go for something I would be happy to wear to an all-white themed event. With Ecko Unlimited ice-blue jeans, white Ecko Unlimited hologram shirt and my white-heeled Customatix sneaks I was ready to show up at the white wedding. The heart ice sculpture with the white undies inside in the front entryway was priceless. The decorators really outdid themselves in setting up the venue to look different than it normally did. There were lounge seats near the bathrooms and on the dance floor and the modern couches were at the front bar instead of the back. The bar staff and security were also done up in white and looked kinda cute as well. I only stayed for Hex but hope that Frankie gave the boys as much fun as I got out of the first DJ. The night built over time. From Babilonia and "Impress Me" (which went on too long by the way, I like the song but he played it like three times before it changed to something else) to "Nights in White Satin" from Moody Blues. "Nights" was strange to hear but it fit the decor and the mood. I had a great time circulating the room and watching the crowd in the white curtain-wall enclosed dance floor and of course the chandelier disco ball as the centerpiece was a great look for the evening. Just when It seemed like it was winding down Hex broke out with the classic "Unbreak My Heart" starting with the slow version and then ripping into the full on dance mix. He had toyed with different Deborah Cox mixes throughout the evening with the vocals over many recently played tribal beats. I was a definite fan of the overall evening and was glad that The Rox hosted the event. There was definitely a nice mix of guys from all over, both the out of town walkthroughs and the faithful Roxy boys who like the New York party vibe. I left the party with almost as much energy I brought in and hope the boys enjoyed my final stint on one of the speakerboxes before I made my exit.

That was supposed to be the end of my weekend, I'm saving my next marathon party weekend for mid-March and was just gonna go into my 4 day workweek well rested. But that was not to be. My friends suggested we go out for one more night and not waste the 3 day weekend. So after a quick consideration and some thoughts on price we ended up at the party at Sound Factory thrown by Mr JuniorV himself. We got there ridiculously early (not considering his reputation as an after-hours DJ) and arrived to a mostly empty house. The bar staff assured us that the place would fill up after 8-9am but that was over 6 hrs away from my arrival time. I ended up trapped in a party that had not truly started yet. The DJ tried to keep our attention by throwing out gems like Lisa Lisa and "I Wonder If I Take You Home" but it never peaked early in the evening (that was to be much later when the live performances started and so called "anthems" would be on display). For me it was definitely a disappointment, with 5 hours of placeholder music for no good reason but to get people crowded into the place well before the party started. I tried to have a good time but it was not to be. I left before 7:30am just when some of my more party savvy friends were arriving. Of course they were all asking was the place full, to which I had to answer yes but that was a cumulative filling that occurred over quite a few hours. The crowd ended healthy but that was too long on life support for my liking. I will definitely be more careful with my party placement in the future.

But overall the weekend was a good one for me. Good company and plenty of fun with friends will do that for you. A well needed three days in the middle of this cold winter.

See you next party boys.

So I've taken a little break so sue me. The boy cannot dance every day (just every other day ) Anyway I have in fact still been going out. Just not recording every nuance of my clubbing history... yet. Poor little me was struck down with an ear infection so I had to keep a low profile and get my rest and hydrate. Of course if I know nothing else I know how to recover. Now back to the party...

So for the weekend of February 7 on Friday I headed into SBNY (big surprise) and settled in for another fun evening. The DJ of the eve was DJ Escape whom I had not heard outside of a circuit event for a while. He pleasantly surprised with his energy and commitment to keep throwing out surprises. Call me shocked when I found myself dancing to Sheila E and "glamourous life" with a totally funky backbeat thrown in to make it sound all fresh and new. He went through the evening mixing 2 to 3 songs at once for long stretches and then give our music loving selves a rest with just one song playing and then go right back to a wild mash-up of songs that I had never heard together before. It was a nice change of pace and a great way to start the weekend. I stayed until 4am and rode home thinking I had just saw something really great.

On Saturday I decided to once again check out the boys at The Rox. Yes it was cold, yes it was an off weekend but guess what, plenty of boys in attendance ready to shake their thing on the dance floor. I went in with low expectations because I had been hearing Peter spin out mixes for like 3 straight weekends and was very happy to hear him raise the energy level for the guys in attendance this night. It was not the same old set (which he never does anyway) but it did sound very fresh and fun for such a winter night. Me and my friends were there until about 5am and had a very good time the whole overnight. Keep it up guys. Still looking forward to next time.