Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 20:09:17 -0400
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Party in Progress (PiP) Report
LA One 1998
Special Edition Issue
Co-Editors: John Self and Glenn Sigl
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No, it's not a mirage and you are not dreaming. You are actually reading a
Party in Progress (PiP) report. Long time, huh? Well, it's not that we
have stopped partying on the circuit (perish the thought); however, there
just has been little to write about as of late. We would hate to bore you
or waste your time with "cookie cutter" reports that basically say the same
thing. So, we decided that we would keep our readers on a "need to know"
basis: a circuit party executive summary, if you will.
For those who are new to this report, the PiP is designed to give you a
quick, easy, biased, opinionated, "don't mean to step on any DJ's toes,"
and sometimes jaded snapshot of the parties we attend throughout the U.S.
We rate each party using the following categories and grading scale:
CATEGORIES:
The Place/The Space
The Music
The Boys
GRADING SCALE:
A - Excellent
B - Very Good
C - Average
D - Below Average
F - Failure
L A ONE 1998
BACKGROUND INFORMATION: LA One started three years ago as an event to
benefit Human Rights Campaign (HRC) organization. This party is hosted by
sponsors which means you can only get a ticket if you knew a designated
individual. We found this party had a different philosophy than the other
sponsor parties out there:
(1) pay one reasonable price ($45)
(2) don't oversell the party, and
(3) everyone's a VIP.
In short, LA has set a new standard in sponsorship parties. The question
remains: can other cities rise to the challenge?
OVERALL RATING: A
THE SPACE: A+
The Mayan Theatre. We love theatre spaces and this one is no exception.
It possessed a huge dance floor with mammoth Aztec totem poles gracing
each corner. The lights were phenomenal: a pyrotechnic "LA ONE" sign
started off the evening, a circular steel beam of lights descended to the
crowd like a space ship, and two towering air balloon men "danced" in the
upper balcony.
There was a showstopper: when Madonna's "Ray of Light" started playing, the
dance floor darkened and about 800+ flashlights with multi-colored fiber
optics at the end were passed through the crowd. Like a wave, the wands
started from the stage and made their way to the front. After a minute or
two, the whole dance floor glittered. Simply Spectacular!
THE MUSIC: B-
Mike Durretto. The evening started off great, but the energy lasted only a
couple of hours and then declined steadily. Around 3 am, the crowd became
subdued. We really wanted to dance our asses off but ended up doing the
old "step, touch, step, touch, yawn (repeat)" routine. Our rating reflects
Mike's terrific beginning that saved him from a C rating or worse.
THE BOYS: A
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful crowd. No surprises here, after all, we
were in Los Angeles for God's sake! The boys were from all over (NYC,
Miami, San Francisco) and were quite playful. But, this was an evening for
being with friends and not necessarily for finding a temporary husband. If
you managed to find yourself a trick, consider yourself lucky.
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Our hosts, Keith Kaplan and Mike Fitzgerald. You guys
showed us a time we will not forget. We'll definitely be back!
We would also like to acknowledge the efforts of the LA One planning
committee: Stephen Botte, Freeman Fisher, Keith Kaplan, Don Nelson, and
Michael Wegman. Your hard work really paid off. Excellence is in the
details and you gave it to us in abundance. BRAVO, BRAVO, BRAVO!!!
DID YOU KNOW?
It seems a gym called CRUNCH has purchased the old Paragon/Icon space on
Washington Avenue in South Beach. It seems we will no longer be able to
dance in one of Miami's, no, the country's greatest clubs again. Get your
bullets out - it's time to do a farewell bump. We will miss it!
WHERE WE'LL BE NEXT:
Amsterdam - Gay Games
San Francisco - Hell Ball (Halloween)
Miami - White Party & New Years
As usual, your comments are always welcome.
xxoo
John and Glenn
(
geocities.com/glamourcom)