Tracy's Birthday at Takoma Station
I met with Kip Lornell at his house for lunch. He talked with me about the state of GoGo and the possibility of a second edition of The Beat. He was going to tonight's show as well.

Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

Ebony was there and said hello, I haven't seen her in a while. She was wearing tan colored sunglasses. Angie, Darrell, Tim (LJ), Tamara, Yaquim, Ray and Michon were there.

Familiar Faces
First Set
Halima wore pearls and a formal black dress.
1) Miles Davis' Tutu
2) Halima-led Erykah Badu's On & On - a number of people stood on the dance floor
3) Mike-led Ruff Endz' Someone to Love You
4) Mike-led Toto's George Porgy - the dance floor started to fill up
Halima did a shout out to her stylist, Keisha
5) Halima-led Rodgers & Hart's My Funny Valentine - an excellent performance with Donnell again playing with her hair during the appropriate part in the song
Halima said, "This is lady stuff, girl talk."
6) Halima-led Fantasia's Free Yourself - another excellent performance
7) Mike-led Anthony Hamilton's Since I Seen't You
8) Halima-led Faith Evans' Mesmerized

Sharmba Mitchell, Mama Chelle, March, Stacey, Slim Goodie, James, Mara, and Val "Tina Turner" were there.

I teased Halima about being so dressed up - I said, "when is the formal dinner party, the rest of us are underdressed." She said that she needed to be dressed up for her stylist.

Kip was there, he said he listened to the first set from by the bar, watching Sportscenter at the same time. He said the speakers by the bar didn't have the vocals up far enough in the mix. He said what so many people have said - Halima is an excellent singer, but so not GoGo. Personally I find that to be a positive - she's a great singer and she's expanding the boundaries of existing GoGo. He went on the dance floor for the second set, so did I.

Tracy said she didn't want to be seen - despite Donnell's shout outs to her, she wanted her birthday celebration to be low-key. Robin and Tracy's sister were there.

Darrell pointed out a girl sitting in another girl's lap. He sat in the lap of another girl in the chair on the other side of the table. He then sat on the lap of the girl in another girl's lap. He asked their names, but they wouldn't tell him and he asked me to post that.

Second Set
Donnell did a shout out to his high school sweetheart; he said he's known her since Earl Elementary
James sang backup during the second set
1) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva
2) Mike-led Marvin Gaye's I Want You
3) Donnell-led 50 Cent's In Da Club(tease) - Donny Ray was onstage
4) Donnell-led "Hey ay, Ho oh"
5) Donnell-led "Do it for the ladies/fellas, Oh my God!"
6) Mike-led Bobby Valentino's Slow Down - Donny Ray was an additional backup singer
7) Halima-led Faith Evans' Again
8) Mike-led Prince's Take Me With You
9) Donnell-led Hold the Note
10) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut (end of James on background vocals) - Mike added vocals / Notorious BIG's Warning / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease) - Ebony rapped / Donnell-led "Wait a minute" echoed
11) Donnell-led Tupac's Hail Mary (tease)
12) Mike-led Lap Dance - Donnell chanted, "Swing your body" and Mike chanted, "Swing" (I assumed it was Halima because it was so high pitched, but subseqeunt performances show it was Mike)

Tracy cut her cake. Slim Goodie was hovering by the wall; I asked her if she was hiding. She said no, she was just looking for Googie.

Tamara warned me that next time I'm on the dance floor; she's going to dance with me.

I asked Googie about his playing bass. He said he hadn't played in four years, it is better when you can rehearse with the band. He said he prefers to play in the studio. I asked him what about Reality (meaning the reunion of the Reality Band), he said, "At some point."

Stomp teased Donnell about the mustard yellow pants he wore at rehearsal.