Favorite Macho City Moments

There certainly were a lot of colorful Macho City moments in our ticket giveaway contest! Thank you to everyone who entered for sharing their real or imagined experiences.

My favorite Macho City moment (of many highlights) is probably the Nancy Fortune night. Mike and Scott had been playing an unusually amazing selection of underground disco that I had not heard before, but that was so immediately likeable that it felt like a series of forgotten favorites. It had such a consistent good disco vibe you could not help but feel elevated.

The crowd was eclectic that night, including a good number of leathermen, some super cool straight folks, and a broad range of ages of us regular gay folks. The visuals were ultra-cool. As an added bonus there were no serious smokers on the dancefloor. It was all just so ... happy.

[As an aside: Not to pick on one group in particular, but there has been a serious rash of girls smoking on the dancefloor at Macho City that is giving me a serious rash. Ladies please, look around. Do you see the gay boys smoking on the dancefloor? No, they do it in the bar area like God intended. Even my friend Chris who can only breathe through a cigarette when he is at the bar abstains. Take note.]

So all is well at Macho City that night, and about 1am Nancy Fortune comes on. The transition to her music was, frankly, jarring, and I was like, "oh well, it was fun while it lasted." But then she got things really rolling (or more likely, my brain adjusted) and suddently there was this fantastic electro/dance/house mix of music - one that rivaled the mastery of the earlier disco mix - that took me back to my after-hours clubbing heyday. You know that feeling you get when you are standing there and the whole world around you is so perfect and you are brimming with joy? Yeah, that. That night wasn't just a Macho City highlight, it was a highlight of my summer.

Now back to the contest. Before I announce the winners I want to address some of the comments.

First of all, to the comments saying people posting about lurid activity at the R&R are missing the point of Macho City (some were deleted by their author), I feel compelled to say ... do we need to be this way in 2009? First off, Macho City can be about so many things. Maybe it is about the music, maybe it is about the people, and maybe it's about the setting. In my opinion having Macho City at the R&R - a place that is a safe space for a niche in the gay community (I sound like a lesbian feminist with that language) - sets a tone that you are free to enjoy the night however you want. Maybe Macho City provides a more comfortable way for attendees to get a little dirty in their lives, I see nothing wrong with that.

It's important to remember that we are guests there, and Macho City is supposed to be enhanced by its setting, and in turn enhance the R&R for one night a month. It's the combination that really makes Macho City so special. Arriving at the R&R and then judging the activity (or people's appreciation of activity) is perhaps an unfair approach. I hope that the regulars at the R&R like having the Macho City crowd once a month and continue to show up, and I hope MC attendees can be chill about anything besides dancing and drinking that may or may not go on.

Taking that one step further, as a community we make no progress if we cannot embrace all colors of the gay rainbow. We don't need to be mainstream to deserve marriage equality or protection from discrimination. It's the non-mainstream parts of the gay world that have been on the front lines, and who make being gay so very interesting! You don't need to partake, just accept.

Secondly, there was a comment about Buju Banton being booked at the Majestic and how we should boycott anything there. I am not a huge fan of boycotting locally-owned businesses or gay-led cultural phenomena, particularly in a recession, because often people just need to be educated about their offenses. But in this instance I think the Majestic has paid attention to concerns. Another comment addresses those:

For the record, the Majestic cancelled the Buju Banto show more than a week ago. They will have to eat the $8,500 guarantee. They are the only independent booker in the country that has flat out refused his performance. The Majestic had no clue about Buju's homophobic song (that he wrote 20 years ago at the age of 16 which he has since apologized for) and once they were aware of said song they immediately cancelled the show. The Majestic are very much accepting of all lifestyles. I am gay and have worked for the Majestic many times over the years. They currently have at least 5 gay employees that I personally know of.

I hope this news assuages any concerns people have about going tonight, because Black Devil Disco Club Macho City will be epic! And congratulations to randomly-selected winners Sparky, Darren, b, Phil, Thomas and Joseph, y'all are getting in free tonight! Your names will be at the door!

Have a great Macho City!

[Hey Sparky, email me at supergaydetroit@gmail.com to confirm your ticket!]
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Macho City News for You

OK so I don't think my role is officially Mouthpiece of Macho City (shut up), but I am going help get some details about coming months explained and on your calendars.

This month's installment will be the last regular installment at the R&R Saloon until October, due to a special feature I will talk about in a minute. But there are uber-special guests for August!

DJ's Mike Tee and Scott Zacharias will be working their turntable disco magic to start off the evening, and then will be joined by this month's special guest DJ's Carlos Souffront (affiliated with Ghostly International, the amazing electronic label that started her in our very own Ann Arbor) and extra special last-minute addition BMG of Ectomorph.

You may not be familiar with those names, but the bottom line is these are guys who know their stuff and know how to pack a dancefloor, even one full of leathermen and middle-aged guys who still like to party like me. If the Nancy Fortune night is any indication, it will be fantastic fun with amazing music.

Next month Macho City is changing things up. Disco legendary legends Black Devil Disco Club, a collaboration between two French dudes back in 1978, are playing just a few dates in the US and one of them will be the Macho City for September! Our Macho City DJ's will play before and after what promises to be a very cool danceable show. If you listen to their spooky electro disco on this MySpace page I think you will see how I become obsessed with them in two days time. Apparently they have had such a strong following over the years that some individuals (who shall remain nameless) paid like $200 for their record!

This Macho City (Sept 26) will be held at the Majestic instead of the R&R Saloon and will have an actual ticket at $15 instead of a cover charge you can pay with change from under your seat cushion. Now I can hear the protests already (actually I already have) so I'd just like to throw this out: has Macho City let you down yet? I think it is a pretty safe bet this night will be phenomenal. So start saving now, and pay attention to this here blog because maybe we can work out some ticket giveaways or something.

As an aside, I think the thing that gives me irrational love for Macho City is how effortlessly it seems to combine high and low culture. Mike and Scott have an almost academic approach to dance music and you can't even tell how curated it is when you go, you just love it and have a good time. It ties back in a way to what I wrote about in January, about raising the aesthetic bar here. We get a dirty dance party in a leather bar at the edge of the ghetto, that may be expected in Detroit, but inside we get some of the top local, national and international talent on the decks.

Speaking of top talent, things return to normal (or as normal as Macho City can be) for the October installment of Macho City when we head back to the R&R and the special guest DJ is Supergay Detroit! What? So much for maintaining standards, DJ Mike Tee! Without posting my playlist, I think we can safely say I'll be veering more toward the disco than the electro, and you'll be shocked to discover that it'll be the gayest night Macho City ever had. Let's just say I never met a chorus of female voices or a string section I didn't love.

OK, now you have all the info you need about Macho City. I promise I will try and write about something other than Macho City in my next few posts.
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