Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Roots cancelled

Yes, it's true. The Roots concert at Amos' Southend on Thursday has been cancelled. When I caught up with club owner John Ellison by telephone on Wednesday afternoon, he said he was about to throw himself off the roof of his club. I begged him not to. After all, I'd never get a giant bear hug from him again.

The cancellation is a result of construction delays and Ellison assures fans that once the club re-opens it's going to be the premier live music facility in the area. I can't imagine how frustrated he is since he owns the club, but I know I'm disappointed and so are Roots fans. My e-mail, cell phone and telephone have been blowing up. For hip-hop fans this was the show of the year -- the Roots and Common. I'm crying as I type this. Freelance photographer Ebony Stubbs suggested we show up at Amos' anyway on Thursday. Maybe we could bring a boom box and have our own concert.

Ugh, it's been gloomy and gray all week, and now this. I might join John on the roof.

Brokeback Mountain moment

Remember the scene in "Brokeback Mountain," when Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger get their groove on in the tent? They were aggressive and rough.
I asked a gay friend if that scene and the one where the two cowboys get into the random fistfight are typical of men who don’t want to admit that they want each other.
My buddy said yes because they have so much testosterone and they don’t know what to do with it.
I still found it hard to believe until I saw a snippet of that testosterone at Loft 1523 on Tuesday night. I was with three women and a guy for an Absolut vodka tasting party. Absolut unveiled its citrus line. Bar and restaurant industry folks came out. It was the best crowd I’ve seen at Loft. The usual yuppies were out, but so were deejays, folks from the Penguin -- which meant hair dyed colors your mom wouldn’t dream of -- as well as my New Year’s Eve booty-on-you-leg man Denny and folks from Ragin’ Uptown. I met the owner of the Solstice Tavern, which is scheduled to open soon in NoDa. DJ Jason Herring, aka Jah Sun Rising, spun groovy down tempo house music that by 12:30 a.m. had older men dancing with women half their age.

The Brokeback moment started when L-Boogie asked this club kid, a person you always see in the club, for his blinking sticker. He gave it to her and then started talking to us. By the end of the night, he was like a stray cat - he wouldn’t go away.
We went outside for a change of scenery. We were sitting on giant ottomans talking when the club kid plopped down with us. He starts running his mouth and my male friend looks at him. Not like, "I want you," but more like, "Ugh, please stop talking."

It begins.

Club kid: "Why are you looking at me?"
My friend: "Because, I can."
Club kid: "Be careful, what you ask for."

My friend rolls his eyes. They exchange a few more words and I realize that Brokeback scene really could happen. Unchecked testosterone is a beast.