We can finally blog again! You don't know how excited this makes me. In the meantime, this is a post from the weekend that I put up on My Space because Blogger was spazzing. Enjoy.
"Just like college," Estelle said to me on the phone as we made our plans to go out Saturday night. She was right. Back then, just as on Saturday, she would call me as soon as she finished her science experiment. I would be working on a paper and dyeing my hair a suitable shade of black while waiting for the call. She would come over to my place and I would drive to the club. The only difference is, now, coming to my place requires a twenty minute drive across two freeways connecting the San Gabriel and San Fernando Valleys. Before, coming to my place required Estelle to walk up two flights of stairs.
We were going to Bang! on account of the fact that I had to touch base with a certain person about a certain news development that has nothing to do with Bang! but something to do with another club at the same venue (and if you want to know what that is, scroll down to the bottom of this post). Plus, neither one of us had been to the club since I stopped playing there three years prior and we were curious to see how much the club had changed.
A lot has changed in three years. The only people I knew were the promoters and DJs, the photographer, the bathroom attendent, one bartender, one old club buddy and one security guard. The front room, which used to be the mod hallway, is now new wave. The back room, formerly home to techno and house stuff, is pop-centric. The format in the main room is roughly similar, indie/alternative/whatever, but most of the bands we heard probably didn't even exist as anything more than a record label's new signing three years ago. Right before I left the club, the big song was "PDA" by Interpol, odd considering that when I played it a year before, it cleared the floor (seriously, it was some random promo I received with a Belle and Sebastian giveaway that I had set up at the club). Three years ago, 95% percent of the requests were for "something electroclash like Fischerspooner or Miss Kittin." The other 5% of the requests were for various Pulp songs. I didn't hear any Pulp last night. We did, however, hear a lot of Franz Ferdinand, which is fine with us since we heart Alex Kapranos and his Dior Homme suits. We got down to "Take Me Out" like it was the first time we ever heard the song as some Moz-alike holding hands with a female Moz-alike squeezed passed us.
Sometime after that, Matt in the Hat took our pictures for the club's website and we headed over to the new wave room where Frankie, my old DJ buddy, almost killed us with his set. We were going to ask for "New Order or Kon Kan," but he had Joy Division cued, which was just as good. So, we started dancing to "Love Will Tear Us Apart" and I immediately thought of another college friend of ours, another one-time roomate who would sit on the bunk with me and listen to Joy Divsion for hours while talking about how "beautiful" Ian must have been. Ah, to be young and obsessed with people who died when we were three. After that, Frankie played "Valerie Loves Me" by Material Issue (insteresting, yet morbid connection), which he followed with Real Life's one U.S. hit "Send Me an Angel." As if Frankie's set couldn't get any better, he then busted out my request for Kon Kan's "I Beg Your Pardon (I Never Promised You a Rose Garden)." I have a story that is 1/3 about that song. If I write it down, you might get to read it soon. If you have never heard this song before, you are missing out on a HiNRG dance classic, filled with samples and one of the best breakdowns ever heard on an 80s-centered dance floor.
Eventually, we needed a break and, somewhere along the line, we ended up in the pop room. We thought we would just peek inside, but then we heard Cybotron as sampled by Missy Elliot and had to stay. When the song ended, we prepared to leave, but Madonna beckoned with "Sorry" and since that was followed by Rhianna's #1 hit, "S.O.S." we just kept dancing.
We ended up leaving a little after one, which might seem kind of early were it not for the knowledge that we were only planning on staying an hour. Instead, we were there for roughly three hours, which I suppose is the best indication that we had a really good time.
Now for the news.
I'm going back to Beat It as a guest DJ for the club's Memorial Day Weekend bash. Those of you who remember the Beat It days of yore know that I used to be the resident in the 1980s room. You probably danced to Kon Kan a lot back then. This time, though, I'm going to be playing in the indie/electro room, so the set will probably be most similar to the one I played at Till Tuesdays last month. Here are the details.
Where: Beat It @ The Ruby (7070 Hollywood Blvd.)
When: May 28, 2006
Time: 9p.m. - 2 a.m.
Age: 18+
Cover: $15

I urge everyone to come out that night, as it should be a really fun party. Just, take my advice and arrive early and dress for a night of hot, sticky dancing.