(Ed. Note: I’ve noticed that I have a lot more ideas than I
do actual entries...for instance, I thought up four and there’s no way I’m
going to go once a week and get them all out in a timely manner. Because of
that, I’ll say this: there will be at least one entry every week. If there are
more, there just are. Thanks.)
So, last week might have been one of the best weeks ever.
Matter of fact, I think the only real competition is my birthday week from last
year – which I think I already wrote about. There were two things that made
last week one to remember: everyone knows about one of them, and we all like it
unless we’re Republicans.
This, of course, will be about the other thing.
FAMU’s homecoming was last week, and I decided Tuesday that
I would live it up for the entire week since I fully expect to be a resident of
another locale by the time next year’s festivities come around. I could do a
chronological rundown, but that would be boring. Instead, I’m going to rank the
days from “worst” to best.
6. Wednesday
Wednesday wasn’t that bad at all. Went to the Flite for
karaoke for the first time in forever (about three years). The crowd was live,
the memories came back, and things were good. The only problems were that I had
to get there insanely early and that the food wasn’t as good as normal. Outside
that, I had fun – some of which came from hearing “My President Is Black” three
times. It’s just that other nights were better.
5. Tuesday
The election made Tuesday, for the most part. I wouldn’t
have even gone out if Mittens won, so it has to be mentioned. Went to my
cousin’s ex’s place to watch the returns before heading out. Club wasn’t too
special: the girl I hoped would be there wasn’t. Funniest thing was when this
girl tried to get a guy’s attention and he completely moved to see President
Obama’s re-election speech…the closed caption of it.
4. Friday
There was only one thing that was a minus about Friday, but
it was a pretty big one: the DJ. I loathe self-promoters. Play the music, let
the people dance. Actually, the party as a whole wasn’t what it’s been in
previous years. I may have to find another Friday night activity. Another place
tried to charge too much to get in and I didn’t feel like staying up for a
third – not with what I had lined up for Saturday. Friday is above Tuesday only
because I caught up with a couple of friends I hadn’t seen in two years.
3. Thursday
Thursday was real cool. Had the ‘coat and dress pants’ game
working, had fun at two different places, and it set up the weekend perfectly
(at least I thought it did until Friday underwhelmed). I think the best thing
about Thursday was that the first event set up the second event. Vibe was cool,
relaxed, and very nice-looking. There was one girl there who’d have had me
ordering bathwater on the rocks. Planned the exit from the first event at just
the right time. Second event took longer than I expected to get into, but it
was on once I did. Had a couple of nice conversations and good times with some
women from out of town (particularly with one from Tampa).
---
And now, the top two days – which are pretty hard to
distinguish. Both had me arriving early. Both had almost untenable seating
situations. Both had unbelievable high points. So, which night wins?
---
2. Sunday
I loved last night. Loved it. I went to a Phat Cat live
show. In case you’ve never heard of Phat Cat, they’re a bunch of musicians who
sing live R&B. Started out here in the 90s. If you have the chance, go see
them. Period. And let me warn you: this will be the longest part of this entry.
First, it was just so cool to experience a different vibe.
This wasn’t that “young people trying to say they’re grown up” stuff. This was
real grown folks’ business. You could tell as soon as you walked in. I can’t
remember the last time I went somewhere and could use the word ‘ambience’
instead of ‘atmosphere’.
Second, Phat Cat was live. The performances were great.
Singers singing, cats playing instruments…when you listen to as much club music
as I do, you need that reminder of what music can be (note how I didn’t offer
any judgmental statements there). I got it last night.
Third, the guest performances. Off the meat rack. Keisha
Jackson – yes, Millie’s daughter – was there. Lil G from Silk was there. There
was this Australian violinist who might have low-key given the best performance
of the whole night…and that’s not even counting the Lauderdale Drop he hit on
stage.
And then there were the headliners. I have to say Carl
Thomas has been eating pretty well. He’s also a funny guy. He gave a much
better show than I expected. It was funny how no one caught on to his “I Wish”
intro until the beat dropped. I was about 30 seconds in front of everyone
(well, this is Tallahassee). But the place was going when he sang that and
Summer Rain.
But Carl’s performance wasn’t as wild as that of one Aaron
Hall. Aaron halfway thought he was a member of Poison, taking off clothes and
simulating certain things. He also invited a woman on stage (which isn’t like
Poison only because we’d have never been allowed to do that). Aaron sang “I
Like”, “Piece Of My Love”, “Let’s Chill”, “Don’t Be Afraid”, and “I Miss You”.
That show was awesome, though. Other highlights: Thomas
Dortch from 100 Black Men was there, and so were Trayvon Martin’s mom and
brother. They got a tribute during one of the intermissions (Trayvon’s family,
that is: Dortch was among those who gave it). Joe Bullard talked about beating
stuff up, Loverance style. Demp was out there. It was just a great night, and
if I acted like I was 34 it would have been the unquestioned best night of the
week.
But I don’t, so…
1. Saturday
I got to the party at about 8:20. There were about 20 people
in front of me. Read those previous two sentences again. Now…everything was
cool until I decided to be a gentleman and scoot over for this group of girls.
There was one and a half too many and my seat was rather uncomfortable
for a while. Music was much better than the previous night, worked my way
around the room, and the party went an extra half hour.
Let me go back to the music, though; since that’s a huge
part of what pushed Saturday over the top. Every now and again we’ll have DJs
who play stuff like Party Rock Anthem and other “FSU” type songs. That’s cool
enough, as it switches the vibe. But when he said he was taking it to Miami and
pulled out the Latin music? Oh, it was over. When he played “Suavemente”, I was
gone. Funny thing: you could tell who was from South Florida when that set came
on. The diversity in music pretty much won. Matter of fact, I would go to the
Latin spot…but the lady behind this makes it a bad
idea.
I also went to two other shindigs Saturday, which was the
other factor in pushing it over Sunday.
---
If that (points above) was my last homecoming week here,
then I went out with a bang. It was the best of the 17 homecomings I’ve
attended and even though I’m a little lighter in the wallet, there’s not a
thing I’d have done differently (matter of fact, I may have spent more and
gotten a VIP ticket for Phat Cat).
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