Archive for December 19, 2010

PEVEN EVERETT 18.12.10

December 19, 2010

Burning Hot!

As the crowd gathered center stage to cheer Peven Everett on Sexy Santa strutted around the dance floor decked out in eye candy cane gear. Then it happened, Peven took to the stage dressed in head to toe black, small in stature but ready to deck the halls with vocal havoc on merry ears. Needless to say the tribesters were filled with joy.

Within an hour Peven Everett zipped through a conglomerate of hits that left the tribesters burning hot. From “Tongue Kissing” to “Take Away My Sunshine” Peven left no stone untouched. First, the ladies and there were plenty of them, were aroused with a soulful serenade of “Girl of My Dreams.” Next up, the packed house of tribesters were treated to, “I Need You” as they went wild and sung, “Stuck” along with Peven before he returned the favor and crowned the crowd, “Special.” From there “Burning Hot” scorched the room like a disco inferno to rapturous delight as Peven pronounced, “Your honor/I ain’t supposed to be here” as if reliving a previous court hearing. With unbridled restraint Peven delivered a flawless, “Can’t Do Without” to warm screams before he turned the “Heat Up” with that groove thang or should it be said those pop-n-lock dance moves that came from nowhere. Talk about true showmanship. After free styling to “Bonanza” blond ambition Billie Jewel took the stage and delivered, “All The Time” a feisty little number worthy of Teena Marie fame. Shortly thereafter, Peven returned to the stage for the final knockout right before FunkJazzKafe beckoned the heavenly encore, “Gabriel.”

Truly the live performance was first rate. Like little tikes on Christmas morning all received their wish list, a soul parade led by Mr. Peven Everett the vocal grand marshal.

 

Photography by John Crooms

CARLOS MENA 16.12.10

December 17, 2010

OMG 3F

The night consisted of the three F’s: fiyah, flatulence and a fight.

 

Fiyah. “At the Club” by Timmy Regisford featuring Lynn Lockamy started the night off right after informal praises were offered to Yoruba deity Olodumare. From there deep tech vocals filled the restaurant/bar that “Surely” pleased the ears. Sassy Latin house brought finger snappers to the dance floor while East London’s, Brassroots cover of Inner City’s, “Good Life” kept all feet marching with joy. Perched high in the DJ booth above, the night’s headliner Carlos Mena dumped sexy siren house serenades on the party people on the dance floor below. Soon afro-beat with its percussions and talking drums followed suit to a deep-tech Halo & Atjazz Remix of “JuJu” by Black Coffee. Intertwining the present with the past, Carlos dug deep and produced vintage NYC garage for the old heads. However, the surprise of the night, Usher’s auto-tuned, “OMG” startled the crowd with perplexed visages of questionable commercialism. Not to worry because for all the lovers in the house or freaks that is, soul singer Kem’s, “Without You” (Woz Shelter Mix) returned the sounds to the deep that submerged the room in subterranean sex.

Farts. “Somebody farted,” mentioned BE in rare form not DJing but dancing with a sprained ankle.

“Man that shit stank,” he continued fanning his nose with a frown of disbelief. So, without hesitation BE ran up to another dancer in mid-squats on the floor and accused her of the flatulence. After the brief dispute the two laughed and hugged one another in love. Unfortunately, despite lofty efforts the source or culprit of “the stank” were never found.

Fight. The night was on fiyah, going well as one could expect. No interruptions were found in music or dance. All were having the times of their life. Until….until….but wait a minute! What is that small crowd of people doing? Seems the small gathering was preoccupied with something swaying back and forth. Within the darkly lit room, elbows and arms were seen pulling something or someone. The visual not easily seen could not be interpreted without further examination. So, a closer inspection revealed a male dressed in all black with black fitted ball cap and a couple females dressed in black holding back an individual dressed in black. The individual short in statue being held back could not easily be traced out due to the towering man draped in all black. A look to the right revealed another short figure in a turquoise hat pointing fingers and in mid-swing. This individual too was being held back but by the party’s promoter. How odd. This was strange. Could this be the inevitable “F” word not mentioned or seen in the house music scene?

Yep. A catfight broke-out. WTH??? Luckily the minute scuffle was stopped before further distractions or interruptions could affect the music and the dancing. Thankfully, the music kept playing and the dancers too wrapped up in asymmetrical movements paid little mind to the incident. Unfortunately, how embarrassing for this to occur with an out of town headliner playing at a restaurant/club.

This embarrassment marked the first in a seven year long history of partaking in house music parties or events. Never had a scuffle ever been mentioned or seen in the scene. The house music community considered loving bordered on boring when it came to action oriented events occurring at niteclubs. This was not stereotyped movies or music videos where fights and bar brawls broke out resulting in smashing whiskey bottles over people’s heads. That was Hollywood, not house music. How or if this incident would change the face of the underground house music scene remained to be seen. For instance, would the city require security to be present at every event held that night forth? Would every event require security to pat privates and run searches like city airports? Hopefully, house heads could continue to party in peace and hopefully nothing would change. Please people, can we all just get along?

Photography by John Crooms