Saturday at Tradewinds
Today I finished transcribing my interview of Byron "BJ" Jackson, former bass player and keyboard player for 911/Familiar Faces. He is now with Rare Essence. The transcript of the interview can be seen here.

Tradewinds Night Club, 5859 Allentown Way, Camp Springs, MD 20748

It was hard finding a parking spot tonight.

The one bouncer (who up until last week worked the front door) was by the kitchen door, he waved to me.

James, 6'9, Sanisse and Yolanda were there.

Junior worked the sound.

Some male fan yelled out to Halima during the sound check, "Go get him girl!"

Familiar Faces
First Set
Line up: Mike Muse, Halima, Donnell, DP, Doc, Dwayne, Godfather, Lorenzo, Mike Smith (first set only), Smoke, and Charlie.
The DJ, East Coast, acknowledged losing out on the Cowboys-Redskins bet to Donnell. He did a shout out to Redskins fans. He said he had to do a lot of crazy things because of the bet. One of those things, which he said he would never do again, was that he played Hail to the Redskins on the PA.
Donnell said he was glad he was public about it, most of the suckers who lost their bets with him tried to hide it.
He said the Cowboys fans made excuses, saying it was a fluke, as if the Cowboys win over the Redskins last year wasn't...
He said he didn't respect Cowboys fans.
He also said, "We only do the DC thing - Redskins, Orioles, Nationals, Wizards..."
He said, "Do you want to double the bet? They couldn't beat us at home, there's no way they can beat us on the road."
East Coast called for a "Noise Meter" - he asked every Cowboys fan to make noise, then Donnell asked every Redskins fan to make noise.
We Redskins fans were much louder and East Coast acknowledged it.
A male fan yelled out, "Halima!" - I think it was the same one who had yelled to her during her sound check.
Donnell said, "I'm glad you knew we weren't on the boat ride."
1) Mike-led Tony Terry's Freaky Little Game - Mike used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, there was a nice percussion solo
Donnell said, "Trying to warm up for all these lovely ladies."
2) Halima-led Erykah Badu's Cleva - Halima changed the line, "this is how I look with makeup", she used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, bounced, and moved around, Donnell touched her hair during it, the frontline danced
3) Toto's Georgy Porgy - instrumental intro / Mike-led Bobby Valentino's Slow Down - Donnell said, "You alright, Monique?", Mike used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, there was nice percussion
Donnell said, "I think they're ready now."
4) Donnell-led "Hey ah, Ho oh" - the crowd sang along
5) Donnell-led "Do it for the ladies/fellas, Oh my God!" - Halima (onstage) & Mike (on the floor) posed at the appropriate times
Halima went back on the floor
6) Halima-led Faith Evans' Mesmerized - she added "Baby, Baby" to the start, Donnell referred to his male friend, "Scrambled Eggs", She sang toward Scrambled Eggs, she moved around, bounced, and used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Donnell danced onstage then on the floor, she held the hand of the fan who had yelled her name - I'll bet he got a kick out of that
Donnell said, "We got some old school"
7) Mike-led Rare Essence's Take Me Out to the Go-Go - Halima went onstage, Donnell said, "My baby ___ since Howard Theatre." Donnell said, "Y'all are too young to know this", he then said, "Let the crowd sing" - they did
8) Mike & Donnell-led Rare Essence's One on One (Footz version) - the band and fans held their hands in the air, Mike danced with a woman on the dance floor
Donnell said, "We're trying to find out just how old you are"
9) Mike-led Rare Essence's Lock It - Halima danced, Donnell used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, Mike held his mic to a female fan
Donnell said, "We're trying to find how old you are. We don't want any youngsters here. Go beat your feet somewhere else."
Mike said, "Take you back to a time... Do you believe in fairy tales?"
10) Mike-led O'Bryan's Lady I Love You - I noticed James sang back up, Donnell played his horn onstage, Mike went on the dance floor and hugged a female fan (she had earlier stepped on my foot with her spike heel - ouch. She did apologize.) while singing, Another female fan moved that first one out of the way and hugged Mike, Mike said, "I know it's your birthday, but don't get naked", Mike and Donnell both used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures
A couple of girls made fun of my head bobbing in both sets, it turns out one of them, Sharon actually likes my head bobbing.

Archie Paige, Nikki, and Monique were there.

Dwayne talked about The Fugees' new single "Take It Easy" being a GoGo track. He talked about even the third guy (Pras?) still gets paid. Stomp talked about Rich Harrison and his songs with GoGo beats.

DP talked about how packed it was at Tradewinds. I told him how hard it was to find a parking space the last two weeks and I arrived early. DP said that at the Black Hole, whenever someone left, someone else was let in.

Mike went outside with the woman he had hugged. He came back in; someone asked him if he wanted some chicken. Godfather said, "He don't want no chicken, write it down Jordan." Then Godfather walked outside.

Mike drank Rockstar - a no-carb energy drink. I told him that I thought of him on the way to rehearsal because a Red Bull truck passed me.

Mike ordered the Rayful Edmonds movie. It was distributed by Liaison.

Slick Rick came in the kitchen.

RE Angie played the congas.

Second Set
1) Halima-led Faith Evans' Again - the crowd sang along, Halima used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, moved around, and bounced, Donnell moved onstage then back on the floor
Halima said, "Hey ladies"
2) Alternating Halima-led Gwen Stefani's Hollaback Girl - the crowd sang along, Halima moved around, bounced, and used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, she held her mic to a female fan / Donnell-led Rare Essence's Hook Me Upa - Halima danced, she did some heavy breathing, Halima went offstage and then back on the floor
3) Alternating Donnell-led Brown & White - fans held their hands up, Halima was onstage, the frontline, Doc and Dwayne danced / Donnell-led Ride Out - the frontline danced the Ride Out dance, Donnell called Slick Rick up to dance, he did, first onstage, and then on the floor, Donnell directed his dancing, saying things like, "Pop the clutch" / Donnell-led Northeast Groovers' The Water / Mike-led Parliament's Aqua Boogie (A Psychoalphadiscobetabioaquadoloop) (tease), Halima went onstage, then on the floor
4) Halima-led Mariah Carey's It's Like That - Halima stood onstage, her singing was very energetic, she used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures and bounced, Donnell used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures
Halima said, "DC, Tradewinds"
5) Alternating Donnell-led Trillville's Some Cut - Donnell stood onstage, Donnell used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures and moved around, the frontline & Dwayne danced / Notorious BIG's Warning - Donnell used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures and bounced / Keith Murray's Call My Name (tease) - Donnell went on the floor, he stood on the edge of the dance floor, Dwayne moved Nikki to the right a little, she danced in front of him, Halima used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures / "Wait a minute" echoes - Donnell held his fist up with his elbow at 90 degrees
A fan yelled, "Lincoln Heights"
The lights dimmed, it was very dark
6) Alternating Mike & Donnell-led Rare Essence's Work the Walls / Donnell-led "25, 25, 25" - Donnell used a lot of nonverbal arm & hand gestures, he went onstage, Mike said, "Who said Lincoln Height?" / Donnell-led Djayz's It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp (tease) / Donnell-led Kanye West's Gold Digger / Donnell-led Dem Franchise Boyz' I Think They Like Me - "I think she likes me, I think you like me" / Donnell-led Slim Thug's I Ain't Heard Of That (Remix) - nice percussion, Lorenzo added some different keyboard sounds, Donnell had Smoke wave while playing the congas / Donnell rapped for Don & Mike, "Back in the day"
7) Donnell-led Rare Essence's Body Snatchers
8) Dwayne started to play a guitar riff from 911 - Donnell said, "I told them to stop, they are so disrespectful."
9) Donnell rapped, "D-Floyd got the fly sh*t for you"
Mia, a bartender at Cranberries, was there.
Donnell told a woman "next time, leave him home."
A woman complained that he didn't do a birthday shout out to her. He said, "I'm sorry, I'm 41, memory is the first thing to go."
He teased some woman saying she has "a lot of butter on them grits"
He said, "Don got his back up against the wall" - referring to Rare Essence's Back Up Against the Wall?
Donnell joked, "Stomp was fired in the first half, he just keeps coming back".
A guy asked me why I was taking notes. I told him.

Post Performance
1) Donnell rapped "Takoma Station, Masturbation..."
He further teased Stomp, "She had three kids for you and you couldn't..."
Donnell addressed some woman, "Cha Cha, Choo Choo, or Co Co". She was with Charlie. Donnell teased Charlie about his ability to handle her. He said, "He is still scared of you, since the bus trip. If you're not dancing on a table, he don't know what to do with the money." He repeated that you need a garter belt for them to know what to do.
Another woman pulled out her red lace underwear and said James can't handle her.
Donnell sang, Rare Essence's What Would You Do for the Money (tease).
Donnell said, "He's thirty, but he's intimidated."
She had a matching red brassiere, which she showed us.
Donnell said, "Somebody else already paid for the drinks, you don't even need to do that."
He then shifted back, "Poor Charlie, sacred since the bus stop. He wants the Million Mans March, he don't want no woman. All he wants is to scramble the eggs, marinate the steak, and hope you go to sleep, no work. You need a stopwatch for Charlie, Carl Lewis on that, Renaldo Nehemiah... This is a case study why you should date little boys."
Charlie replied, "You're over the hill. I will scorch your ass."
Donnell said, "When you're chasing Baloney, you'll get nothing but a sammich."
Donnell said the women needed to give him a progress report next week. One of the women said, "it will be the same."
The other woman said, "94/95, he still hasn't hit this yet."
Donnell said, "Eazy-E was alive back then."
Donnell said of Charlie, "He has the Primatene Mist with him". Donnell crouched as he said it for emphasis.
Charlie said, "Jordan, I'll bust your ass if you put this on the internet." - Lighten up, Charlie - everyone knows it's just Donnell joning
Stomp said, "It will go up tomorrow, maybe tonight."

I went to 7-11 after leaving Tradewinds. As I walked out of the 7-11, a guy said to me, "Next time you should let me in free", he said something about spending $200. I said, "I have nothing to do with that." He said, "It's your club." I said no and that "I wish I owned a club."