Saturday on The Odyssey
The Odyssey, 600 Water St SW, Washington, DC 20024


A crowd shot - DP and Donnell have their backs to the camera. In the crowd - (I am in back), DeeDee, Dave, Nephew among others


Michel Wright
All pictures taken by and Copyright - Byron "BJ" Jackson

The Positive Black Men Coalition sponsored this event. Donnell had told the band members they needed to be there by 11 PM (the boat was scheduled to leave at 12:30 AM). I decided to leave at 11 and arrived at Water St at 11:30 PM. The Odyssey parking lot was full and it ended up taking 40 minutes for me to find a parking space. I seriously worried about the possibility of missing the cruise. I did make it with time to spare. I walked on the gangplank right behind Nephew, DeeDee told the ticket takers he was with the band. I asked Nephew, "What instrument do you play?" He said, "Management." I said, "I've never heard of that instrument." He said, "It's a new instrument, I just made it up."

Familiar Faces
When I got to the stage area, Familiar Faces was already performing. Their line up was: Mike, Adia, Donnell, DP, Dwayne, Doc, Godfather, BJ, Pooh, Bojack and Charlie. I walked past the stage area to the buffet, so I didn't hear the first set very well for a while. After eating, I went to the bathroom to wash up and then spent the rest of the cruise in the stage area. I noticed a number of regulars, among them: Michelle, Nita, Tracy, Demetrius Owens (the percussionist), and Ray. During the first set, I stood behind a support directly behind the end of the dance floor. Donnell had talked on Thursday about how most of the instruments would be those of the regular band for The Odyssey, but obviously Bojack's percussion instruments were his own. At one point, Donnell said, "Head bobbing, head bobbing." The first set was unusual for them - Bojack played throughout, and the second to last song was Rare Essence's Take Me Out to The Go-Go, which is rare for a first set. They closed with Alicia Keys' Diary.

After they went on break, I went over Doc and said, "Your uncle played at Maryland first right?" He said, "You've been doing research?" I said, "No, I am interested in Maryland basketball history. Wilson Washington was supposed to be the key to put Maryland over the top in 1974." He said, "Yeah, he had a falling out with Lefty and transferred, but he still made the NBA." Bojack asked me how the thesis was going, I told him I am almost done with fieldwork, but may have follow-up next Spring. Then I walked over the bar, the wait was rather long, Doc and BJ stood behind me, wondering if they would get served before their break was over. When they finally served me after 15-20 minutes, I made sure all three of us got our orders. Still, right about a minute after they served us, Donnell called the band members back to the stage.

The stage was an enclosed area with barriers above and below. Mike had a conversation with who I assume was his sister, because his response to her was, "I'm going to tell Mom!" Donnell replied by saying, "That's a Parkland thing." Shortly after, a friend of Mike's came up to him, whom Mike said he's known since 1982 at Dunbar (High School). Donnell said, "He was from Parkland and went to Dunbar? Sounds like a lunch money thing. Someone had their hands in his pockets." I went on the dance floor for the second set. Two couples smiled at my dancing (whether or not they liked it or found it humorous, I can't tell). In the middle of the set, Michel Wright of WPGC danced between Mike and Donnell, and then made some announcements. At the end of the set, Donnell called out "Happy Feet" (a dance). Then it ended and Donnell said, "That's some of most 'Bama sh*t I've ever seen." Then he had Bojack play some more - "we may never see Happy Feet again." When they finished, Donnell said, "Whatever happens on The Odyssey stays on The Odyssey. Next you'll be doing the cabbage patch." Donnell said that "Nephew still has one of those 8-Ball Jackets and still wears it occasionally." I had noticed that during the performance a number of people had filmed parts of the performance. One guy had even filmed with his cell phone. On the other side, BJ had been taking pictures with a digital camera during the performance. I asked him after he finished playing if he was taking random pictures, or pictures of beautiful women. He said, "A little of both."

After the performance, I talked a little with Michelle and Anita. Michelle told me about the desserts I missed. Then I saw Cookie for the first time of the night - it was her birthday, hopefully a good one. When I left the boat, the DJ dance party was still going strong. I got lost a little on the drive home. Rabbits must be nocturnal because virtually every night I drive home from a performance, I see rabbits on one of the yards on my street.