Discotheque Danny

Sunday morning, Danny Tenaglia spun at Discotheque. It was a party highly anticipated by his fans like me. It'd been a while since he'd played New York and I'd been in need of hearing a musical journey, only he could provide. He did not disappoint.

Having spent much of Saturday resting, out in Staten Island (nothing greviously entertaining to report. I got wet, I sunned, I napped and I ate) I was ready for some dancing. A disco nap from 12:00AM to about 3AM was good, restful. I'd gotten up a little too early but I was anxious. Showering and preparing, I was out of the house by 5:00AM. Jumped into AutoLove and headed into the city. Traffic was light at that hour so I breezed into Manhattan.

Parked, I headed up 6th Avenue, past Heaven. It was amusing to see the college-aged twink boys milling around in front of the club closed. The remnants of yet another "Kurfew", "Gay College Party", "Detention" or whatever, I don't know. (Actually, it was the "Buns-n-Wieners" party. Yikes!! ) They looked dazed and lost. There were some older "admirers" hanging about. One leered at me as I walked by. I paid him no mind.

Turning the corner onto 19th Street I was concerned to see, even from half a block away a crowd in front of the club. Discotheque, for the unfamiliar is a small venue. For the older homos, it's the old Champs space, remember a wanna be gay sport bar/dance club circa late 90's? Nothing like a sports bar per se with games playing on monitors, but sports miscellanea hanging on the wall, a faux boxing ring/stage and go-go dancers in sports equipment and uniforms. Anyhow, it was and is still a very small space, a couple of hundred people could fit comfortably but any more, it would be a deathtrap.

I was early by all accounts, Danny had only started spinning at 5 and it was only 5:30. I took my place in line and waited. Behind me, had to be the whiniest guy ever. "Where's Chris? I hope he comes out so we can get in. Why's this taking so long? Wah wah wah." This was unbearable.

I waited for about 15-20 minutes before I made it in. Seems that Discotheque hadn't even opened (re-opened?) when I'd arrived. I walked in and the club was just starting to move, but it was pretty empty. Danny was warming up as I said hello to a few friends. There were some glitches in the sounds system as it looked like Danny was intently trying to fix. I hoped this wasn't a portent for the morning. With a tweak here and there, Danny pumped up the volume and we were on our way.

And what a way it was.

When the sound system kicked in, an aural cocoon surrounded me. Discotheque was small, but the sound system was fantastic. Danny played just as I'd expected, nice chunky beats with driving drums and rhythms. The best part, I couldn't identify a single song. All I did was dance, and enjoy the journey. Danny had built it up the music slowly, a nice controlled burn as I thought and slammed us with some unforgettable beats. I hadn't dance like that since his last party. It was a morning roller coaster ride, where he took us to peaks to bring us down some and back up again. Not many breaks to be found and when he brought them, even I was thankful for the momentary reprieve.

While on a DJ "break," Danny walked by my spot where we kissed and hugged hello and gave a mutual "It's great to see you." That was a especially nice. :)

The crowd never got as bad as I'd seen at Discotheque previous times. There was always plenty of space to dance. I'd run into some of the "boys" which I normally see out and about. They looked as if they were tying another one on and had come from another party. One looked liked he was having a really good time and didn't know it.

There were a handful of dance admirers, most of which I paid no mind. However, one guy was extremely cute and nicely fit. He danced well to boot. I enjoyed myself, watching him. No, nothing came of it since we'd never spoken. These parties are mixed so you could never be too sure if the feeling is completely mutual or it's the "substances" doing the talking. Still, there was a lot of mutual admiration going on, but I wasn't of the mind to make an overture.

Sigh. Oh well.

The party ended around 3:45PM as Danny announced he was being shut down by the club. I walked out and was pretty well spent. I'd drenched my clothes in sweat at least twice, so I was really in the mood to head home and shower. Of course, Danny reminded everyone that this was only part one of the day. It was the Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sunday and he was also going to be spinning at a parade after-party at Show for Rob Fernandez's Asseteria parties starting at 11:00PM. I had to work today, there was no way I was doing it. But still, sigh, it would have been fun to go…

…and maybe that guy was there.

Double-sigh.