Supergay Week Continues ...

Thanks so much to all you swell guys and gals who were able to make it to Macho City on Saturday night! I had so much fun being the special guest DJ, I actually lost my bad attitude for a while! Thank you thank you Mike Trombley and Scott Zacharias for inviting me to play my shiny gay disco!

There were a few requests that I post the playlist from Saturday, so for the curious or stalkerly, here it is:

Set 1
I Was Born This Way - Carl Bean
No One Gets the Prize - Diana Ross
Lucky - Donna Summer
Take Me Home - Cher
(thus ends the gay diva sequence)
Fly Me on the Wings of Love - Celi Bee
Shangri-La - La Pregunta
Don't Cry for Me Argentina - Festival
(believe it or not, the producers of Evita commissioned an entire Disco Evita album when the musical debuted, which often was played in its entirety at discos! This track is so much better than the Madonna dance version)
I'm a Cruiser - Village People
(another Village People song about cruising for sex, slapped on the album that also featured YMCA. Hello Middle America!)
So Many Men So Little Time - Miquel Brown
(from 1983, is there a more historically unfortunate lyric than "So many men, so little time ... how can I lose?")
My Knight in Black Leather -Bette Midler
(camp and pathos like only Bette Midler could do it. Until she jumped the shark with "From a Distance")


Set 2
This Is My Life - Shirley Bassey
(an over-the-top disco version of an already over-the-top song)
That's the Meaning - Beautiful Bend
Forbidden Love - Madleen Kane
I Need a Man - Amanda Lear
(no she was not really a transsexual, it was just a rumor)
Stars - Sylvester
(the best of the many wonderful songs in the Sylvester oeuvre.)
Come On and Do It - Poussez
(the only song I've ever seen with a "moaning" credit)
Tahiti, Tahiti - Voyage
Don't Leave Me This Way - Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
(the original version, and the best by far, with a young Teddy Pendergrass on vocals!)

OK so now you can recreate your own Supergay Macho City right there at home! Good luck tracking some of those down though.

I've zipped away to Saugatuck for a night to regroup and will be back for tomorrow night when a new season of Doggy Style starts at the Park Bar! It's the special Halloween edition, to celebrate the biggest gay holiday of the year!

Free Tickets to a Very Special Macho City!

OK back to shilling for Macho City!

As I mentioned last month, this month is a Very Special Episode of Macho City. The Black Devil Disco Club is in town as part of a VERY limited US tour, and Macho City is presenting them this Saturday night!

What, you've never heard of Black Devil Disco Club? Well go read about them and, more importantly, listen to them on their MySpace page, because they are some cool spacey vintage disco. Macho man Mike Trombley introduced me to them last month and I have been listening nonstop (you can buy their newer but equally cool stuff on iTunes).

Macho City will be held at the Majestic this month, with our regularly-scheduled awesome disco DJ's spinning before and after the BDDC performance. It's going to be really cool, and I think it is a testament to how exciting this whole alternative gay scene can be in Detroit that Macho City is presenting this.


Of course the catch is that with the live show situation there is a higher cover charge. Like $15 instead of $2, which is a jump to be sure. But still a deal for a rare live performance by underground European disco legends.

To help a select few of you along, I have free tickets to give away! Six lucky winners will get a free ticket to the show!

To enter the contest, leave a comment (making sure I can email you from your entry) describing your favorite Macho City moment, real or imagined. Winners will be chosen at random on Friday, and your name will be at the door to get you in free on Saturday night.

Now get to steppin', and see you Saturday!
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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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Time Again for Macho City!

Well it's the end of the month so it must be time for MACHO CITY! Yes that's right, everyone's favorite underground disco dance party sensation is up on the docket for this Saturday night.

Can we talk about Macho City for one second? Because it just keeps getting better and better. The last Macho City, well, what can I say to describe it. It started like this, as we got in line behind some leather daddies:

[Hip chick in paisley poncho on cell phone in front of R & R]

Girl: How far away are you guys?
pause
Girl: Yeah we're out front.
pause
Girl: A lot of leather.

One of the fantastic things is that the leather crowd turned out and looked great. I hope they don't get irritated with the whole new crowd descending on the place once a month and stay away. I would like to encourage all Macho City attendees to take the opportunity to - at the very least - allow a leatherman to cop a feel in a bathroom or dark corner to make sure we all continue to be welcome at the R&R.



DJ's Mike Tee and Scott Zacharias played, according to one friend, "all this music you've never heard before but is all really great." Which is exactly what I want at a dance party. I mean, when was the last time you went out and heard all great music you don't know? Like, Midnight Sun, 1995? This is the stuff you end up telling 25 year olds about when you are 40. ("When *I* was 25 ...")

He: It's so cool they keep playing these snippets of songs that you know!
Me: Those aren't snippets, those are the songs where the samples came from.

Special guest DJ Nancy Fortune was a total wild card, in the sense we had no idea if she'd be going disco or electro or what. She came on about 1am and played the greatest electro/house set ever ... it WAS like Midnight Sun 1995! Not the music, but the house vibe and the energy. No voguing though. It was a funny transition from disco to electro but man it worked like crazy.

Don't think about it, just do it.

The dancefloor was packed all night (with fantastic new visuals from Nancy Fortune compadre Tommyboy), and I had to bid a reluctant adieu to Macho City around 2am. But the thing goes until like 6am on Monday morning and you very well may not want to leave before then.

I mentioned to a friend yesterday, while enjoying gay Wednesday night cocktails at Atlas Global Bistro, that I don't even drink at Macho City anymore because I don't want to miss any of the evening, and he excitedly proclaimed that he doesn't either. It's so good you just feel great dancing and talking and mixing and mingling.

So I guess my point is, don't miss out on Macho City. Nothing this good lasts forever, and if this blog had an audience of more than 15 people I'd feel bad promoting it as much as I do. But I figure we've got a year of real unadulturated Macho City fun - the kind that gets a great mix of R&R regulars, hipsters, us middle-aged fellas who still like to party and a smattering of cool straight folks. I'm really not kidding - don't miss out!

(details on Macho City for this month, next month and the following month being posted shortly!)
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If you liked it ...

... then you should have put a ring on it.


Macho City has turned out to be a great down-and-dirty disco dance party. The crowd is diverse and looking for sweaty good times. It's the R&R Saloon so you can take that however you want.

I like the Macho City vibe because I don't feel like the creepy old man watching the young hipsters dance to questionable 80s music like I do at Fierce Hot Mess sometimes. This isn't wedding disco either, it's the good underground stuff..

I enjoy Macho City, and I think you will like it too.

Macho City, this Saturday. 10pm until late. The R&R Saloon, 7730 Michigan Avenue, Detroit.

When the party's over ...

This hectic week almost made me forget something vitally important! After the Modernism Preview Party don't forget to head out to the R&R Saloon for Macho City!


Let me put on some music to get me in the mood for this post, I need to go back in time - to four weeks ago.

I was keenly excited about the premier of Macho City last month, and I am happy to report it did not disappoint. It was the perfect old gay meets new gay (and I don't mean age-wise). The R&R is a real leather bar, like with people in it and everything. There were regulars there (and I daresay a nice offering of good-looking guys over 30) plus an onslaught of obvious first-timers. The ages ranged from 21 to who knows. The music was GREAT and not just for dancing - hanging out by the pool table was possibly the best spot in the bar for much of the night due to the constant flow of people and the really good sound system there.

Without going into further excrutiating detail, the dancefloor was almost always packed, the bar was full and fun, the crazy owner kept yelling drink specials randomly over the music, there was possibly some depravity downstairs ... it all came off like a really great regular night at the leather bar (when you imagine how you wish regular nights would always be). I didn't even care that I left the bar reeking of smoke - and that's really saying something.

So don't forget - go to Macho City tonight! It's the right combination of everything wrong. And I mean that in the best possible way.

Macho City, a monthly disco party
It's on a Friday this month! Friday, April 24
R & R Saloon, 7330 Michigan Avenue, Detroit (bet Livernois & Wyoming
$2 cover, includes one drink!

Five Questions for Macho City

I am very excited for the new gay disco dance party Macho City this Saturday! So excited that I emailed Mike Trombley, Macho City founder & DJ, and asked him everything I could just have waited until tomorrow to find out. Here are my five questions for Macho City.

1. When and where did you start Macho City?
I am originally from Detroit and started the Disco/Secret Sunday party at the Eagle back in 2004. I had returned to Detroit after living in California for 5 years with the idea to throw a slightly sleazy, anything goes, dance party similar to nights that I frequented in LA & SF - Hot Dog, Black Arts, Trannyshack, etc. An alternative gay party for those like-minded boys and girls in the Detroit area.

Disco/Secret was successful but drew a primarily straight audience. I found this odd considering the gay iconography used in our promotion but the disco beardos caught wind of the night and started coming out. I'm really grateful they did but I was also a little disappointed that the party did not attract a larger gay contingent.

About a year later, my boyfriend got a job offer in Philadelphia and we moved. I began spinning in Philly and started a night called Paradise at a club called Key West. This party was named after the legendary Paradise Garage in NYC.


Macho City started last September at the only leather bar in Philadelphia, the Bike Stop. It was the most successful party I've ever thrown. I promoted like crazy and it just all seem to come together. The crowd was an ideal mix - gay, straight, male, female, and the response was amazing. I was only able to throw two Macho City events before we moved but I knew I had to transfer that momentum to Detroit once I arrived here.

2. How did you end up picking the R&R Saloon, and does it still smell like a dirty dick?
I chose the R&R for a few reasons. I actually find it to be one of the friendliest gay bars in Detroit. That being said, it's also one of the most surreal and at times, the sleaziest. It has a great sound system, large dance floor and cheap drinks. It also draws the most diverse gay crowd in the city, hands down. They recently made some structural improvements/updates and it's definitely lost some of it's dirty luster, although fortunately the pit still smells like a pit.

3. Will all the music be so obscure that it all sounds the same, or will there be recognizable artists or songs?
The music will not be too obscure. I've learned the hard way that as much as I love to nerd out on the turntables, it can be extremely alienating to those on the dance floor. You have to throw 'em a bone once in a while. Plan on hearing underground Disco and Italo next to certified dance classics.

4. What will the emotional highlight of the evening be?
The emotional highlight of the night for me usually happens around 1:20am or so. People are inebriated enough that they don't care how they look, just that they want to DANCE! The floor is packed and sweaty and I can't stop grinning.

5. Where did you get that incredible flyer image?
The flyer image is actually the gatefold artwork from a Disco record written by Rod McKuen, of all people. The album is horrible but the image is incredible. Plus that arm belongs to 70's gay porn star, Bruno (link nsfw (duh), but only mildly). The album is called "Slide... Easy In."


There you go, everything you wanted to know about Macho City but were too fey to ask! The party should be a good sweaty dancing time and the crowd, judging from the PR and the buzz, should be a great mix of younger and older, maler and femaler, gayer and straighter.

I really want to encourage everyone to come, especially some of you fellas who maybe feel like your dance club days are behind you. This event is tailor-made for those of us who were born before the original disco era ended!

Macho City, a new monthly disco party
Saturday, March 21
R & R Saloon, 7330 Michigan Ave (bet Livernois & Wyoming)
$2 cover, includes one drink!

Macho City

There is a gay dance party coming up that, at least in theory, excites me like no other gay dance party has ever excited me before. Well, no local dance party, there are a few I've seen in SF or NYC that have revved my motor too, but they get all kinds and we get few.

If Detroit's hedonistic young gods could pose any real questions about the state of their beloved underground, what would they be? Does dance music keep any dignity when it's been built-to-order, spit-shined and pumped to within an inch of its life, only to be thrown away? Can it flex some real musical muscle? Such concerns loom large for local DJ's Mike Trombleyand Scott Zacharias with their new disco monthly MACHO CITY at Detroit's leather haven, the R&R Saloon.

As party throwers and vinyl purveyors living in a jaded hypermedia age, Mike and Scott have long built an arsenal of (un)classics gleaned from dusty bins and dingy basements, creating sets that move asses, loins and ears in true rearguard anti-fashion. Strengthening their city's own underground legacy against its current nu-rave/blog-house blandishments, the two have built a cadre of support for overlooked and forgotten dance music, fusing Detroit's own well-hung disco endowment with arpeggiated Italo odysseys and Cosmic slow-burners, minted in supple steel colors.

Make your way to the R&R Saloon on March 21st where you can tap the aural traditions and tough love of Detroit's own seedy back alleys.

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The R&R Saloon is kind of nasty, but what a brilliant way to use its nastiness to a good effect. Al Pacino's late 70's gay leather murder flick Cruising seems to be a point of inspiration for the evening, and what a perfect setting to meet someone who will take you home and kill you.

[Ed note: Not to be flip, but 30 years later and it's the same psycho shit. Don't go home with strangers.]

Regular readers will already know that I love my Fierce Hot Mess and my Sass and my Guerrilla Gay Bar and Latitude Wednesdays at Atlas and Tuesday Night Doggy Style and all nature of grassroots gay barring. These nights tend to work harder to get you in, get a more diverse crowd and, although when bad they can be very bad, when they are good they are GREAT.

And by now you also know about my love of obscure disco, old school gay culture, and hipsters. I am hoping that the content and context of this event brings out a slightly, shall we say, more seasoned crowd to complement the hipster element.

All the pieces are there, let's see if it all comes together!

Macho City is every 3rd Saturday from 10PM-2AM
The R&R Saloon, 7730 Michigan Ave., Detroit
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