Sunday: JYB & BYB at the Mad Chef
Mad Chef Cafe, 7929 Central Ave, Capitol Heights, MD 20743

I heard about this upcoming show with the Junkyard Band and the Backyard Band on the PA Palace Board.



Even though Familiar Faces was also performing that night (together with EU and Y2K Band), I decided I wanted to see JYB and BYB together, both because they were major groups and I wanted to compare them to Familiar Faces. Junkyard Band had unveiled a new sound, which they call ASJ (Another Side of Junk), since I went down to UNC. This was my first eighteen and over club rather than the usual twenty-one and over (some people call them "kiddie cabarets").

I arrived at 10 PM, the stated start time. When I went up and asked if they were open yet, the guy must have thought I was a 'Bama, 'cause he said we're closed for eating. I said "I'm here to see Junkyard and Backyard." He said, "My bad." Then he said no, they weren't open yet. I ended up waiting quite a while (over 30 minutes), before they started letting people in. When it was my turn to be carded, this guy also thought I was a 'Bama - he asked me if I knew what was going on and who I was a fan of. The weapon search was tighter than at the airport: belts off, a frisking (by the same first guy I talked to, wearing rubber gloves), a metal detecting wand, taking our shoes off, and our feet frisked. The security guy even threw away (literally, he threw it into the grass) the pen in my pocket as a potential weapon. I went and sat at the table in the middle. One of the fans took it upon himself to ask me if I had ever heard the bands performed - I told him I had seen BYB, not JYB - he was nice about it. They started off with a DJ playing Hip Hop.

Junkyard apparently had some technical problems, delaying their start. They started off with ASJ, and then switched to the GoGo beat. The only people from JYB I could see were the talkers because they sat on speakers way above the crowd - that was because the crowd was so large and it was so dark. I liked JYB's set, but when BYB performed everyone (including me), got more into it.

During the break, some women intentionally came up specifically to dance with me. The fan who had talked with me earlier came up with three women who briefly danced with me. They asked me if I was a manager, and one of them insisted I was a reporter despite my protestes. The heat generated by all of us (the entire crowd that is) dancing caused us all to sweat profusely. It ended shortly before 3 AM when 2 women started fighting. Walking to my car, a girl shouted to me, "You was partying!" I am not good with remembering song titles, but others who attended have posted them here.

It was during this performance that I decided to create this blog.

The JYB performance from this date is available for purchase from various GoGo vendors - I have a copy and enjoy it.