Expectant,too punctual but prettier than ever I really believe that this time it's forever"
Last Dance-The Cure
Thankfully Friday nite only signaled the end of Sex Dwarf at Club Fluid,we still have eight glorious months of Philly's premier New Wave dance party to enjoy but it did mark the final time we'd all gather at Club Fluid the home of Sex Dwarf since its inception almost ten years ago in August 2003.
Even for a relative newbie like me{Sept 2011} the sense of melancholy...and dare I add infinite sadness was apparent as we all knew after tonite we'd never enter or leave Club Fluid again.
At least the fact tonite was the annual Sex Dwarf Prom gave the evening a sense of grandeur as most people as is always the case when there's a theme at Sex Dwarf got into the spirit of things.....some more than others.....YES I'm referring to you Frank.....it takes balls to pull off that backless black dress look but you managed it in spades,and we have the photos to prove it!!!
For my part I was only too happy to get"suited and booted" fashion clothes horse I am not but I do own several suits.....you know just in case,weddings,funerals,christenings,bar mitzvahs,court appearances or Prom! and while I may well have looked like "Mutton dressed as Lamb" it made a pleasant change get dressed up and not as my mother would say"look like you've been dragged backwards through a hedge"!!!
Growing up in London Prom was not a part of the high school experience so here I was at 49 going to my first ever Prom,who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks! I suspect had I grown up this side of the pond I may not have gone to Prom,you could list my dates on a postage stamp and still have room for "Old Glory" so I somehow doubt I'd have been renting a tux or limo muchless buying my date a corsage!!!
If you go onto Sex Dwarf's Facebook page Robert has as always added the evenings playlist,almost six and a half hours of music.....and neither OMD'S "If You Leave" or The Psychedelic Furs "Pretty In Pink" show up,two songs forever linked w/ Prom thanks to the John Hughes{all bow to the genius behind the Brat Pack movies}''Pretty In Pink" although OMD and The Furs are represented.
I always knew it was going to be crowded on the dance floor,it is at the best of times but tonite I was reminded of a line from the beginning of "The Warriors" about everyone "fighting for their little bit of turf"I'm just glad I got my final turn on"the box" early on b4 seeking sanctuary on "higher ground" up on the balcony for the last four hours where there was not only room to dance but I was lucky enough to strike up a conversation w/ a women in a stunning red dress,very nearly the ideal prom experience as we talked and dance till almost 2am above the seething mass that was the Club Fluid dance floor.
I wondered what would've happened if the Fire Marshall had shown up, if we weren't over the occupancy level we were close to it.
Here's the funny thing about that,usually take a confined space and add alcohol to it and you have a receipt for trouble and yet from my vantage spot up on the balcony it looked like everyone was getting along w/ one another,sure there might've been issues of treading on peoples toes and peoples personal space being invaded but by in large it seemed like everyone was getting along w/ everyone,this shouldn't be a surprise,we are the generation who supported Band Aid/Live Aid and "Do They Know It's Christmas" and "We Are The World" music has a way of bringing people of all walks of life together afterall.
As I made my way down the narrow staircase from the Fluid dance floor one last time to the exit I thought about the memories I've made here and the friendships I formed,finding like minded people who share a passion for the greatest decade of music ever, the 80's,you can't put a price on that and while a dozen of us went off to the South St diner to continue the evening there was a feeling of a chapter of our lives ending as we exited into the nite air.
As we left the diner{hey it was Prom isn't that part of Prom culture,dance and drink all nite and then go to a diner?!!}after 4.30am South St was deserted as we began to say our goodnites and go our respective ways home I couldn't help but laugh,here I am almost 50 pulling an "all nighter" the type of behaviour normally reserved for our teens and twenties and as I took my place w/ the "dawn patrol fraternity" on the trolley back across Center City and University City to get home at 5.45am twenty four hours and five minutes after I'd gotten up in the morning to begin my day I thought about the nites I'd done that way back when,at least at almost 50 I don't have to explain my actions to my parents anymore!!!
One final foot note on the whole evening,I began clubbing back in 82-83 when I was 19/20 and one song that could always fill the dance floor was the seminal Pigbag classic "Papa's Got A Brand New Pigbag",I still own a 12'' vinyl copy of it,it's just one of those songs you can't help but "get your groove on to" no matter where you are,standing in line at the DMV,the bank where ever it's infectious and hearing it again even for the umpteenth time on Friday and seeing the packed dance floor revelling to it's undeniable dance ability confirmed my whole hearted belief that music is the greatest thing ever and while it won't continue for us at Club Fluid there will always be a DJ somewhere to play it and a dance floor filled w/ people to dance to it.
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