Partying in my underwear and other kinds of chaos

Underwear: A Brief History at the Minnesota Historical Society

IT WAS A BUSY WEEK FILLED with those delightful doses of chaos I love so much. Crashed the City Pages Best-Of Party at Mancini's on Wednesday. Saw my City Pages editor and demanded she throw chocolate chip cookies at me, Bunny, and a couple of other party people we met. My editor complied for the photo op, but conservatively, only taking a couple of cookies and tossing them at us while a photographer tried to capture the action. Thinking better of being wasteful, I took the tray of cookies and served them to everyone in the place until they were gone. The cookies, I mean. Not the people.

Karrie, one of the party people, then PROMPTLY WHISKED BUNNY AND I OFF TO THE 7TH STREET ENTRY. "You have to promise to yell for one of the performers to take off his clothes," she demanded. Seemed like okay quid pro quo to me.

Phantom Tails

There were two bands performing and we got there in time to grab a drink and watch the first band, Phantom Tails. I bought the top hat-wearing drummer a Corona because I dug how he pounded on the stand of his Roland with drumsticks. The singer sang into a CB, and the drum beats were so loud I think my heart stopped, but the shear force of electronic beats and a guy pounding on a tom-tom drum managed to keep it going. 

Following Phantom Tails was the equally noisy two-person band, G-Biz. The lead singer had a bandana hanging out of his back pocket, which reminded me the movie Cruising, a movie about the gay underground in the '70s starring Al Pacino. Colored bandanas were key in this film, so I asked Karrie if the singer's bandana meant something. "I don't know," she shouted over the music. "I've only ever seen him in his underwear." And sure enough, within a few minutes he was in his underwear, spinning like a dervish on the dance floor while holding a small amp over his head, oblivious to his flailing audience.

It was a wildly entertaining show as he whirled about in his underwear and socks, occassionally hanging from a strong support pipe above the stage, or throwing himself into a huge stage monitor and following through with it as it fell off the stage and onto the dance floor. He landed hard and awkward on the floor, but there were no signs of recognition on his face. Tornado siren-like noises fill the club, but for a moment during this performance there was a lull in sound. A girl quickly filled the silence by shouting "Give me 27!" "We don't have 27!" was the reply. "Then give me 30!" She shouted. I have no idea what this meant, but at that moment the crowd started dancing again to a wall of beats and a tornado siren. A dancer in the audience ended up wrapping himself in an American flag and continued to undulate under the Stars and Stripes for a few songs.

So that was Wednesday.

THURSDAY WAS DEVOTED TO my first RetroRama appearance. This is the 6th year the Minnesota Historical Society has thrown this vintage-themed party, and I was having one hell of a time trying to figure out what to wear. As many of you know, my closet is filled with vintage clothing from just about every decade since the 1920s. In the end, I ended up wearing nothing at all. I simply couldn't make up my mind, so I went in my underwear. Really.

Purge by Tonja Torgerson at Cult Status Gallery

ON FRIDAY, BUNNY AND I made a mad dash to the Cult Status Gallery for the Cult Sisters exhibition and opening reception. The show is devoted to 12 women on the art scene, some of them graffiti artists. The glorious smell of spray paint had cleared by showtime -- I guess that's what happens when an artist actually has the time to create graffiti art and not have to worry about running away at a moment's notice. The show runs through June 14 -- there will be a party then, too.

David Hanbury/Mrs. Smith is a master on electric guitar

Afterward we caught MRS. SMITH'S SHOW AT BRYANT-LAKE BOWL for Mrs. Smith & The Sisters Boil in PUSSY PEN: Death-Row Dykes and Luscious Ladies in Lockup! As you can probably tell from the title, the show is absolute madness, so it was exactly right for Bunny and me. It's a drag-drug-glitter-garter-infused show that has more punchlines than it does wigs -- and that's saying something. Because there are a ton of wigs in this show. Once again, Mrs. Smith has found herself in a bit of trouble, this time in a women-in-prison parody. Oh, and she still hasn't found her cat Carlyle.

David Hanbury as Mrs. Smith

Every now and then I got the sense I accidentally stumbled upon boys playing pretend, as Mrs. Smith would step out of scenes every now and then to make sure the audience was following along. At one point, the lights went blue, and Mrs. Smith shouted, "Oh it's so dark!" Then she stepped forward, making eye contact with the audience to say, "When the lights go blue on stage, that means it's dark because obviously..." and then she would trail off, and the show would begin again. Like kids playing games and making rules up as they go -- in this instance it is quite funny. Catch the next shows this coming weekend: May 20 at 10:00pm; May 21 at 10:00pm; and May 22 at 2:00pm


And if that isn't enough chaos for you, go see the movie Hesher. Best pool scene ever.