Spectacle. It can be a need. Sometimes, the cheesier the better. Just bring on the ridiculosity.
Dilettante 11: Chicken John’s Whore Church starring Dr. Ducky DooLittle
These nightlife columns I wrote 20 years ago happened in tandem with my introduction into a subculture beyond measure: The Cacophony Society.
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Dilettante 10: Björk at the Warfield ’98
Some concert halls feel like chapels. Hallowed walls vibrate a warm room tone; the masterful lights transport the listener to another realm where music has color and pulse.
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Dilettante 9: The Return of American Rollerderby
View PostDilettante 8: Las Vegas pt4
Are you a goth Charlotte, punk Miranda, or queer Samantha? Definitely a bizarro Carrie here. Actual Carrie wasn’t weird enough to develop a small obsession with getting fake-married to a rockabilly dude in the Elvis chapel in Vegas twenty years ago this week, but I was.
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Dilettante 7: Las Vegas pt3
This week in 1998, some girlfriends and I attended the second-ever Viva Las Vegas “rockabilly weekender.” Guess what? It still exists — in fact it’s now the longest running music festival in Las Vegas.
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Dilettante 6: Las Vegas pt2
Hello, fellow women and that includes trans women and femmes: We’ve come a long way [the ‘baby’ is silent] — we’ve come a long way language-wise, and as far as respecting each other.
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In Memoriam: Larry Harvey, 1948–2018
View PostDilettante 5: Las Vegas pt1
Twenty years ago this week, there was a rockabilly convention happening in Vegas, where one could experience the mecca of boomer-American gambling culture while surrounded by people dressed as a time warp.
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Dilettante 4: Saint Stupid’s Day Parade ’98
To the people who thought up such intellectually zany flights of fancy as the first Saint Stupid’s Day Parade in 1978, bless you. Read More