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


Doc, Pooh, D-Floyd, Godfather, DP


Pooh, DP, Godfather, BJ, Dwayne


Bojack, Adia, Doc, Mike, Pooh, D-Floyd, Godfather, DP, BJ


Packy, Adia, Bojak, Doc, Mike
All pictures taken by and Copyright - Jordan Rich (Note: Pictures artificially brightened by flash, it was darker than it appears.)

When I walked up, Nephew took covers, he told me he was doing well, but would rather not being taking covers.

Familiar Faces
The line up was Mike Muse, Adia, D-Floyd, DP, Dwayne Lee, Doc, Pooh, Bojack (second set only), Packy, Godfather and BJ. Prior to FF starting performing, a friend of Donnell's went up and asked him about his "clarinet" actually a straight Soprano Sax. Donnell laughed and said it was a Sax, Mike said it was actually black and white and painted gold... (Note: I knew that both of Donnell's Saxes are Saxes, but wasn't sure which was which, so I asked for an identifying picture to visually identify sax types - it is below).


The first set, their Jazz set, started off instrumentally, and then Adia and Mike joined in. During the set, Packy complemented, "Good job, Duane (or Dwayne)!" Donnell said, "Watch out we have two Duanes now" - Duane "Pooh" Payne, the drummer, and Dwayne Lee, the guitarist. When Mike started singing, he said, "Hey Hey Hey", which was the trademark line for the character Dwayne Nelson on the 70s sitcom What's Happening. (Side note: I met the late Fred "Rerun" Berry (from What's Happening) at Rhino's Retrofest in 1999; he was a founding member of an LA-based break dancing group. I didn't think with his physique that he would be capable of advanced moves, but he astonished me with both his moves and his flexibility.) DeeDee introduced me to Cookie, also from the Positive Black Men Coalition. I recognized her from Donnell's talking about/to her at Takoma Station before, but hadn't spoken with her.

During the second set, a blonde girl with short curly hair in a white sweater and blue jeans danced in an unusual manner that had my waitress (also blonde, with a black shirt and jeans) smirking in my direction. Donnell asked (are you from), "New York City?" She whispered to him he said, "Harlem, doing the Harlem Shake, I knew it before you told me." The second set cranked as usual, but there was a smaller crowd than usual. Donnell said Adia wouldn't be there on Thursday (Xcalibur). The ending was a little weird - Donnell said, "We're done except for one song" which was Prince's Purple Rain, their usual closing song - Mike had a particularly exuberant extended vocal solo. After that, Mike Muse started singing Bobby Caldwell's What You Won't Do for Love to keyboards with Donnell intentionally mumbling the words along with him (the horn riffs in that song always remind me of the theme song to Too Close for Comfort). They finished performing a little earlier than usual, and the lights didn't come one until after they were done. No joning tonight.

Sunday at the Takoma Station
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

On my way to this 4th of July performance, I saw a double horse trailer pull into Rock Creek Park. I could see fireworks when I got to Georgia Avenue. I could still see them after parking and walking to Takoma Station. I talked to Thomas, one of FF's other support people - he assists in setting up the equipment, particularly the drum kits, and also sometimes takes cover at the door at Takoma Station. At first when I arrived around 10 PM, he and Packy were the only FF people there. It was a very small audience at the beginning for one of their Takoma Station performances.

Familiar Faces
At the beginning of the opening "Jazz" set, the line up was Donnell, DP, Doc, Pooh, Godfather, BJ and Dwayne Lee. I believe the first song they performed was Miles Davis' Tutu (actually written by Marcus Miller) - I am big Miles Davis fan (particularly the fusion and post-retirement eras). Adia and Mike Muse joined in a little later. This was a pretty crankin' jazz set. At one point, a woman in the audience danced real close to Mike Muse, then after the song, went up to whisper to Donnell. Donnell yelled out, Pat (obviously a friend of his who was right next to him and onstage during their performance on Friday at Safari Steakhouse), "Come get your wife, I don't want to give any wrong ideas." Packy played congas during the performance of Marvin Gaye's I Want You, and then sat down again at a table in the audience. Donnell later called him up again to play - he finished his drink and then came up, and Mike Muse razzed him about his white cap. He played for the remainder of the song, and then went back in the audience. Later on in the set, Bojack came in and immediately walked up onstage and started playing. By some point late in the first set, the place was packed. Later on the set, Donnell called "Little Mike" up to come sing, Mike Muse said, "My son needs to come up": up came "his son", actually Gene Pratt of Suttle Thoughts and (formerly of Junkyard Band). He hesitated before singing, so instead he took a cowbell and drumstick and started playing to the beat. Donnell said, "That's what he used to play before people knew he could sing." He still called for Pratt to sing - Pratt tapped his head with both index fingers, showing he didn't know the words, and kept waiting to get the verses down, Donnell said "Did you hit your head?" to which he replied on the mic "No, I'm fine", but proceeded to go back to playing the cowbell.

During the break, Pratt talked to Donnell with Jauhar and Nephew, perhaps to complain for being put on the spot. I didn't hear what he said, but Nephew laughed real hard. At the end of the break, just before they started performing the second set, Little Benny walked in.

Donnell called Little Benny to play after the first song of the second set, Donnell said "Benny, come on up, it's a Rare Essence reunion!" Little Benny did both vocals and trumpet for three songs, then left early in Overnight Scenario. He did come back for the last song as well. This set really cranked! Donnell had also tried a number of times to get "Smooth" from the now-defunct Reality Band to sit in and sing as well, but was unsuccessful. They finished performing around 2:15 AM.

Donnell went over future performance announcements, including one for the DJ tonight for next Saturday. Donnell said that FF was playing that night as well, but had to be helped to remember at what venue, Reggie's. He also talked about Friday's big gig, but again had trouble remembering who the guests were supposed to be but did say, "Trina will be there, she called me" and that "Lavar Arrington will be there, he'll be here Wednesday, he doesn't miss a DC party" and "Who's that 'Bama? Oh, Roy Jones..." He was asked to do a birthday song for a girl named Dawn, he did Vinnie D's "Once was a porno star...", but was asked to stop before he finished, he said, "Hey, I don't know too many songs to sing..."

It's getting hard to rank which performances are best because the crank factor is really going up on a consistent basis (including this performance of course)! Donnell's band directing tonight was more obviously than usual. The signals can be hard to spot and I really didn't start to notice them until I attended the rehearsal about two weeks ago, when they discussed directions.

I took pictures tonight, but they didn't turn out well.

Happy Independence Day!

Friday at the Safari Steakhouse
I was sick with a cold, so I missed Familiar Faces' Wednesday performance at Takoma Station and Thursday performance at Xcalibur. However, I have basically kicked it enough to attend tonight.

Safari Steakhouse 9430 Annapolis Road Lanham MD 20706

On the drive over, I noticed the moon was red! As I walked up in the parking lot, a guy in a Terrell Owens (49ers) jersey said, "Hello, here for your regular Friday" and shook hands with me - I didn't recognize him, but he obviously recognized me. The bouncer at the door felt no need to card me, as he recognized me, but he did frisk me. I sat down at a table shortly before they started up.

Familiar Faces
Their first set was what they call their happy hour or Jazz set, initially the line up was - Adia, Donnell, Doc, Dwayne Lee (I talked with him during the first break), and Pooh. The rest of the line up for the first set was - BJ, DP, Godfather, Mike Muse (the percussionists usually don't play in the first set, tonight there was Bojack, Packy and Telly). Also during the first set, Donnell called up Bryant "Luther" Roberts (or Big Lu as his friends from his table, which was right next to mine, called him) to sing. (Before FF started performing, people from his table asked that the lights be turned off in the audience area, the air conditioning was not working and we all sweated right away). During the first set, my arm was grabbed - the three girls who had sat in my booth last Friday were back and they said hello. After the first set, they asked me if this (the happy hour set) was how it was going to be all night - I assured them that they switched to GoGo for the rest of the night after the first set.

During the break a number of the members of FF danced along with audience members, the DJ, Super Dan, kept pointing out D-Floyd's dancing. At one point there was a line dance and a girl with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a black sleeveless shirt, with a yellow fishnet shawl? over it and blue jeans went around getting both men and women to come on the dance floor. She grabbed my hand to pull me out, but I begged off - she frowned at that. Later in that break, the DJ played Terror Squad's Lean Back (from the album True Story due to be released on July 27th) - that same girl danced back-to-back with another girl (obviously a friend) and she leaned back on her friend incredibly far!

During the second set, Samantha? (it's hard to hear during the music - she is the girl who sat next to me from the three last week) asked me to sit in their booth and save it while they went outside for a while. I obliged - they missed some crankin' music. They came back later, and the other two sat on the other bench of the booth, and Samantha sat at an adjacent table.

The second set was briefly interrupted due to technical problems, DJ music played during that time, but not until after the DJ called out to Nephew asking what was up with D-Floyd (I guess razzing him about his dancing), Nephew just raised his arms in a shrug. Tara arrived late in the second set. The three girls really started to dance with each other starting the break between the second and third sets - they clearly had fun and did not take themselves seriously with the way they danced together. A girl in the booth next to mine (adjacent seats) chided me for not dancing, but I told her the truth - that my left knee was bothering me (the last couple of days it hurts especially when I walk downstairs, so I was dancing in my seat). She said "That's just an excuse; you'd better dance next week." Also, one of the DJ songs had the verse "Shake it like a picture" - a girl (I later learned her name is Allison) from the other adjacent booth (the one my bench faced) with long curly brown hair and a light green sleeveless shirt with a butterfly pattern in front and blue jeans (who danced by herself for periods the entire break right next to her booth) shook her behind, during this, one of her friends, a voluptuous brunette girl with a black shirt felt her behind playfully while she shook it. That same girl in the green shirt leaned back quite far when Terror Squad's Lean Back played again during that break. She and the above mentioned girl with the yellow fishnet shawl could definitely do well in playing limbo.

Tara came by and sat in the adjacent booth (right next to me) and said how tired she was, coming from working. I said, I understand, last Friday, in that very same bench, there was a guy who kept sleeping (or more likely passing out) - the waiter kept bugging him, threatening to throw him out.

During the third set, Tara got up and together with Jay Gotti, the guest rapper from last Saturday, rapped during some songs. The three girls danced directly by me during the third set. As usual, this set cranked the most. The lights came on around 2:40 AM. Donnell said "Jauhar is furious, they don't want to pay extra for security, they don't like me to play so long. Jauhar is furious!" Most of the people walked out during this time, but a number stayed and FF peformed on. The girl in green was one of the few people still dancing, Donnell called her out as Allison and told her "To stop leaning back so far, BJ will fall out." He also said, "Turn around, my man Jordan's head is bobbing up and down." (referring to me of course). They continued to perform for a while then finally stopped.

Samantha asked me why I didn't dance and I told her about my knee. Mama Chelle came over and said hello, and told me how she read my article (this blog). This was the second most crankin' performance, after Club Levels (even better than the Market Lounge on Saturday). After they finished, the girl in green, Allison, and her friend in black walked by my booth to theirs - the girl in black felt my forehead and said, "You were partying, you're sweating." I sweated profusely.

Donnell did their usually performance announcements, in particular talking about next Friday's Denim & Lace Affair, the Allen Iverson Celebrity Summer Classic Official Kick-Off Party. He went over the line up of celebrities appearing, including Tracy McGrady, Magic Johnson (my favorite non-Terp NBA player of all time, the reason I'm a Lakers fan), DaBrat, and Trina (some guy said something to her being mentioned, to which Donnell said, "you'd better get her last name first"). Finally, there's going to be "the 'Bama of the Year", Roy Jones, Jr. He said, "We're going to present him with a pillow, since he's still asleep from getting knocked out. He's doing Tylenol commercials 'cause he has a headache from getting knocked out. He lost to a guy who has a name like a guy working at Boston Market, Anthony Carver, Tarver..." A guy in the audience was obviously a Roy Jones fan and kept responding to what Donnell said. Donnell continued, "I knew something was wrong with him when he had that shag in the back of his head, 'Bama! People in DC don't do that. He's going to fight again against a guy who knocked him the f*ck out. I heard he's going to fight Tyson, I'm a Mike Tyson fan (incidentally, there is a PA Tape I'm aware of of EU doing Tyson's Release Party on March 25th, 1995). Roy Jones is looking for competition in the yellow pages." The Jones fan said something about Tyson being gay, to which Donnell responded, "Roy Jones' shag in the back, that's not DC-style, more San Francisco-style". Finally they turned off Donnell's microphone a little before 3 AM. Quite an evening! The moon was white (as normal) on my drive home.

Sunday UCA Cookout
Back parking lot behind Mad Chef Cafe, 7929 Central Ave, Capitol Heights, MD 20743

I arrived early so that I could take pictures - this was the first outdoor daytime performance of Familiar Faces I've been to. I arrived early and took pictures of the front of the Mad Chef Cafe. That brought their attention, as someone came out to talk to me, asked why I was taking pictures and if I had a business card - I told him it was just for my website. Then Ron "Moe" Moten, from the UCA, came out to talk to me and I explained my thesis research in detail, he told me to go around back.


Bojack, Charlie, Adia, Mike Muse, Pooh, BJ, Donnell, Dwayne Lee, Doc


Kiddie Cabaret!


Three members of Familiar Faces' support staff: Jazz, Nephew, Googie
Not visible in the photo, but Nephew is supporting the UCA sponsorship of the event by wearing a Hipnosis shirt (the label is on the back)
All three pictures taken by and Copyright - Jordan Rich

The UCA (United Clothing Association), a united organization of DC-area black clothing companies, organized the cook out. The cookout was a family affair, with a moon bounce for kids and free t-shirts given away to kids and adults both. The food started being dispensed at 5:30 PM. Despite the event being outdoors, I could hear during the set up that you could hear the sound bouncing off the building behind the adjacent parking lot, more than 100 feet from the speakers!

Familiar Faces
Familiar Faces came on at around 6:30. The line up was: Mike Muse, Adia, Donnell, Doc, BJ, Pooh, Bojack, and the same guitarist (Dwayne Lee) and second percussionist (Charlie) as the night before. I noticed that Doc wore a brace on his playing hand. Many regular FF attendees were there, but really there were hundreds of attendees of all ages. Lisa of the World, Michelle, and my friend Tywon Harzeez of Continuous Music were there. I didn't see Tywon, but he emailed me later, saying that he saw me. When FF opened up, it gave new definition to the term Kiddie Cabaret! A circle of kids formed in front of Adia as she sang the first song. Their first set was their usual jazz set.

After the first set was over, Donnell called up Moe, the organizer of the event. He talked about how despite being competitors, the black owned clothiers have banded together. He also warned the audience to stay away from Visionz, which he said is marketed towards blacks but is Asian owned, that it is important for Blacks to hold on to the businesses they still control, including GoGo. He also said that it was important to get involved in neighborhood beefs, that unity and love will cool beefs. There was a long break before the second set. During the break, a number of kids played on the drums (including the congas, timbales and roto-toms). Their second set was their dance set - it cranked as usual - people of all ages danced.

TCB
Donnell called on Polo of TCB to introduce himself. TCB came on and performed two songs - there were more people gathered in front of the stage than during FF's performance. This is the first time I have seen TCB perform and admittedly with only two songs performed it was only a small sample, but to my ears, not using congas noticeably took away from the sound. I have to check them out later to make a more informed judgment on their sound. The event ended around 8:30 - it was still daylight.

Other fans' description.

Saturday at the Market Lounge
Market Lounge, 1309 5th Street NE, Washington, DC 20002

Tonight was a special engagement at the Market Lounge, to celebrate the birthday of Big Darryl, the owner of the Market Lounge. I arrived at 10:30. The drums were set up, but the band wasn't there yet. I talked with Imani, the bartender I had seen dancing at Takoma Station a couple of weeks ago - she's a nice girl.

Pooh and BJ were the first to arrive. Jazz asked me if I had been to the cook out earlier in the day with Chuck Brown, but I woke up at 4 PM. Apparently I missed a good show. When Donnell arrived, he handed Doc's bass in its case to Doc, back from his vacation - he smiled and hugged it! Donnell came over and pointed out Iceberg Slim to me. I had noticed him as he is hard to miss, but I didn't know what he looked like: he is bald and has the physique and size of an NBA big man, he is around 7' in height (he wore a jersey for Negro League Baseball, with matching shorts and athletic shoes). Iceberg Slim (whose nickname was the pseudonym of the late Robert Beck, a pimp-turned-novelist) is a local rapper who provided the lead vocals for Trouble Funk's Don't Touch That Stereo and Pump Me Up, two of their best songs. I went over and talked with him briefly and told him that I was a fan. I also told him how I knew a friend of his, Dr. Blynd, who wrote "The Funktionary", a dictionary of Funk and philosophy.

Familiar Faces
The line up tonight was: Mike, Adia, Donnell, Doc, Godfather, BJ (on keyboards), Pooh, Bojack, and a new guitar player (Dwayne Lee in his first appearance as a permanent member of the band) and another percussionist, Charlie Allen. There was a free buffet tonight, and it was really good, including Alaskan King Crab legs. They started off with just a few songs of what they call their "happy hour" music, before segwaying into dance music directly in the first set. Donnell did multiple shout outs to Iceberg Slim and a birthday girl named Australia in addition to Darrell. The set (and the following one) was longer than normal for FF. At one point during the set, Donnell thanked Imani to her back; I am guessing it was his way of showing his admiration for her backside.

I saw Tara and said hello. After the break, Donnell called the other band members up to get started on the second set. Right after that, a guy in the audience kept yelling "Get started now" - he was obviously drunk. FF started up while the bouncers peacefully escorted out - he danced to FF as he walked out. The second (and final) set cranked really hard - I would say after the Club Levels performance, this was the second best performance I've seen of them this summer. Late in the set, Tara went up and danced on stage, then rapped. Shortly afterwards, there was another male rapper who sat in (from the dance floor), then another male guest vocalist on stage, named Jay Gotti.

After they finished performing, Donnell talked more about Darryl's birthday and called up Mike Muse (who was signing the email guest list and talking to some girls) to sing Happy Birthday - he said, "You don't want me singing, the girl will still be there when you're done." Mike went up saying "I was just signing the list, he sees what he wants to see" and sang Happy Birthday to Darryl, then Donnell said, "Watch what he does" to the girls. Mike sang more elaborately for Australia, and had her come up on stage and hugged her: Donnell said, "See Darryl, you don't get a hug from him." There was a birthday cake and Donnell teased Iceberg Slim: "Iceberg Slim, no napkin, no knife, no fork, just getting to business, licking off his fingers..." The drive home was fine, I'm getting used to the circles.

Friday at Safari Steakhouse
Safari Steakhouse 9430 Annapolis Road Lanham MD 20706

Tonight was an enjoyable evening. There was a light rain, not like 2 weeks ago.

Familiar Faces
The line up was: Mike Muse, Adia, Donnell, Godfather, BJ (on bass), Duane Face, Pooh, Packy, and Bojack. Donnell said, "During the happy hour set, that's when you get your drinks." There were apparently several birthday girls in attendance, and there was a birthday party group at a long table by me, with a three layer tiered round cake. I was feeling really tired during the break after the first set (lack of sleep on my part). However, things brightened when three ladies asked to sit with me at my booth. The girl who sat next to me asked my name and "if I had come to eat dinner here?" I said no, that I was here for the music. She was surprised - she and her friends didn't know that Familiar Faces was the band performing nor did they expect me to be a GoGo fan. They talked about ridiculous it was that as they walked in, a guy handed them a flyer (Passion Sundays - After Hours Band) and said the band on the flyer was much better than this band. DeeDee from The Positive Black Men Coalition came by and handed out flyers for the July 9th event and said hi to me. The girl next to me said, "You know Jordan, he's my buddy." DeeDee said "Yes, he know more about GoGo than a lot of people." (I'm not sure how true that is, but I'm working on it). For some reason, they kept looking outside through the blinds (possibly to see if the rain stopped, but it seemed strange to me). The girl sitting next to me was nice enough to ask before she smoked and pointed her cigarette away from me. Nephew came over and said to me, "I want to be like you when I grow up" (obviously because I had three girls sitting with me). The one girl called Nephew over and he handed her a business card, which she marveled at because it has a picture of five members of Familiar Faces on it.

The three girls left the table after the second set was over.

The third set as usual cranked the most. I believe I heard a guest male rapper, but I can't be sure as there were too many people in the crowd for me to see the stage. The three girls came back and sat at the booth next to me - two of them did the most dancing, the one who had sat next to me and one other, who fell down a few times (maybe drunk). The girl who had sat next to me grinded with me in my lap as I sat sideways in the booth. Late in the third set, I saw GoGo Mickey walk in. They were initially going to finish the set, but Michael Smith of Rare Essence prodded them into doing an extra song. Then they were done - Donnell said, "Fellas, if you haven't got her phone number by now, everything dead." Donnell said, "Keta was having a good time for the first time in a while, Jauhar, I guess she isn't mad at you anymore." Donnell then said, "Michelle, don't talk to her (I believe referring to DeeDee who sat right next to her) "You know you're the other woman. Michelle and I have been having a secret affair for years, that's my confession." The DJ, Supa Dan, kept playing a verse from some tune (I didn't recognize it) referring to Michelle in some way, Donnell said, "Don't bother, with Michelle, everything dead." He then went further, "She hasn't had a real date in years, unless you count this morning, but I just wanted Steak & Eggs". She went to hit him with her shoe. Then he said, "Being with Michelle is like Rayful Edmonds (Rayful Edmonds III was the biggest drug lord in DC in the 80s and is currently serving a life sentence in prison), a lifetime sentence. A man can't be with her for less than four years, she'll lock him in. He'll never see his kids. It will be like Finding Nemo, locked in a fish bowl." During this time, she went after him with one of her shoes, later a microphone stand and then later pushed him, causing him to stumble slightly into a toolbox. Packy laughed hysterically.

As I walked out, the same girl stood right by the exit, she said "You're cute too!" I don't know why I didn't get her name (I did the following week - Samantha?)

Thursday at the Xcalibur
Xcalibur Restaurant & Lounge, 2519 Pennsylvania Av NW, Washington, DC 20500

This is Familiar Faces' new Thursday (weekly) spot. An unusual aspect of their performances at this venue is that men have to be on the guest list: in Donnell's words tonight "to keep out the Riff Raff". This was the first performance where on my way there, I got to see people outside in DC - it was still daylight until shortly before I parked. I ended up getting lost, but once I got my bearings, I parked not too far away. This venue is right over by George Washington University. The restauarant part is on the ground floor, both outside and inside. The performance area is on the second floor. The stage was cramped - the stage and dance floor are about 14 feet wide, with the stage also not being very long.

Familiar Faces
The line up was scaled down: Mike, Adia, Donnell, Pooh, Bojack, Godfather and BJ (on Bass). The dance floor has two plush yellow chairs and a red couch on the opposite side with a number of plush ottomans. During the performance there were spinning multicolored lights. Behind the dance floor was the bar, which was three steps above the dance floor (about 1.5') - there were some dark brown wooden chairs. I arrived shortly before the performance started - Godfather told me "The pasta is really good", but I ended up not eating. The frontline - Mike, Adia and Donnell only had one microphone between them. After starting off with an instrumental, Donnell called up Mike saying "Adia and Mike are getting too comfortable in those recliners." After that song, Godfather started playing the opening to Grover Washington Jr.'s Mr. Magic, so Bojack walked up with his plate of food and started playing along. The performance was sort of a hybrid - they performed the songs from what they call their jazz set, but with Bojack playing, making it have more of a GoGo beat. Also, do to the one front line mic, Adia got more opportunities to sing solo. Also, Donnell's sax lost a little of its aural punch by not being amplified.

I spoke with Jazz during the second set. I also said hello during the performance to DeeDee, Tara (in the audience only, not performing, I noticed she wore black spiked high-heels, so it would have been hard for her to dance), and Ebony. A number of members of their usual crowd were at this performance. After the first set, Donnell said, "They (the neighborhood I guess) don't really want us here, so be quiet when you leave." Late in the second half, someone from the restaurant came up to let them know it was almost time to finish. Donnell called up Adia to sing "Secrets" (actually Alicia Keys' Diary), for this song Godfather and BJ switched instruments - it wasn't until this song that I could tell BJ was playing bass as all but his head and legs were hidden by the congas. They switched back after this song and Donnell told everyone not to drink and drive, of one guy he said, "Don't drive, it's too late for you to not drink." Donnell called Mike back up to the mic, to "End as they began, on a high note." After the song, Mike also went over their schedule and told everyone "Not to drink and drive." No joning tonight! On my way to my car, I ran into a woman who said she had locked her keys in her car - unfortunately, I couldn't be of any use to her. It was a kind of a damper on the way back.

Wednesday at the Takoma Station
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

Tonight I brought my Dad's digital camera and my copy of Donald Passman's excellent music industry how-to-guide, All You Need to Know About the Music Business. When I first walked in, the cover-taker (actually Familiar Faces' manager and co-owner Baba Tutu) saw me with the book and said, "You're not going to read that here are you?" I told him "No, I'm just bringing it to give to someone." After I sat down, I saw Duane Face, so I went over and game him the book. Not long after, the (police) Lieutenant (I discovered Clark was his last name tonight) arrived and Donnell teased him by mocking his posture. The Lieutenant immediately went over to Adia and began hitting on her - he makes no secret of his interest in her.

Familiar Faces
The highlight of the first set was intense drumming by Pooh - he even sent a drum stick flying. Donnell did several birthday announcements for Michelle. Donnell mentioned how BJ is sitting in for Doc at bass. I had talked with Donnell last night about FF's members having side projects, so I assumed that's what Doc is doing now, but he was actually on vacation. There was a smaller than usual crowd tonight, not sure why. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the flash to work on the digital camera - I'll need to practice later. The Lieutenant came over and said hello to me, "You're becoming a regular."

The second set's intensity increased over time. Tara not only danced this time, but rapped a little as well. As usual, they closed the set with Prince's Purple Rain, with a really intense solo by Boolah - this was in effect his swan song, as it turned out to be his last show with Familiar Faces.

A woman came over and introduced herself to me as Mama 'Chelle, she told me she was here for her birthday and that she had been reading my online write-ups. I didn't think that hardly anyone including FF had been reading my posts until this week. At the rehearsal, some of the band members did talk about my postings. Donnell's joning was all aimed at the Lieutenant- he said the Lieutenant "Went to the Bahamas and came with 'Stacy Jones' (meaning his loafers) without socks, Crockett & Tubbs, Miami Vice." He also said the Lieutenant got his shirt from "The Land of Lilliput." The Lieutenant said, "Haterade!" The Lieutenant added his name to Familiar Faces' email list and Donnell said to Nephew, "Do we want to the Lieutenant coming to all of our shows?" He also started to talk about an incident when the Lieutenant was drunk, to which the Lieutenant said, "Don't talk about that!" Donnell talked about how Adia would be driving to the next show, and that clearly excited the Lieutenant. Adia didn't know what Donnell was talking about, but she was upset, and the Lieutenant echoed all of her responses to Donnell. After Donnell finished joning, Packy started to perform and played with one of the mics (which was not on).

DeeDee from the Positive Black Men Coalition came out and spoke with me briefly right after I walked out.

Rehearsal in Hyattsville
Private location

Familiar Faces
Present at the rehearsal were Donnell, Duane Face, Pooh, DP, Mike, Adia, Bojack, BJ, Godfather, and Tara. I thought Tara & Duane were now members of Familiar Faces, but Tara is a guest rapper and Duane, who has been practicing with the band since November, was filling in while Doc was in Florida. Tara was learning the Roll Call dance from DP. Since I had seen her dance with the group on Wednesday, but having been in the audience, I asked her if she was now a member of the group. She said, "I guess so" (I have been further informed that she is a guest rapper/dancer for the group).

The practice area has a lot of comforts, including couches, a fridge and bathrooms. Besides working on rehearsing cover tunes, they worked on deciding strategy for performances including costume and song selection. One of the most important things I picked up was how and what Donnell directs within the musical performances.

I also got a chance to speak with them together about what I would like to do (this is first time I could speak with almost all of them without music playing while trying to talk to them).

After the rehearsal was over, I went outside and talked with Duane Face for a while, about GoGo and the music industry in particular. He talked about how weird it was that people mostly hand out flyers at GoGo performances or in cars parked at them - "Basically that you have to go to a GoGo to find out where other GoGos are happening." He told me his favorite group was Northeast Groovers, that "They had a great dynamic, every show was different, they could play the same setlist two nights (in a row) and it would be different - they would be inspired by some little thing and react to it." Unfortunately, they broke up earlier this year, but Duane said that they really broke up in 1998; the reunion had only two or three original members. I told him I would bring a music industry book I had since I have no plans for returning to the cutthroat music industry.

Duane Face told me he didn't know the stories of most of the members of the group, except Donnell, "King of the GoGo Beat, everyone knows his story." A number of the members of FF were still hanging out in the parking lot when I left.

Friday at Club Levels
Club Levels, 1960 Montana Av NE, Washington, DC 20500

Club Levels is named for the fact that the club is actually divided into levels. In fact, the front actually says "Boom Boom Room". They showed me the area that Familiar Faces would perform in. I made the fortunate mistake of arriving rather early, even before Familiar Faces! I say fortunate, because it allowed me to watch all of the instruments be set up, which I hadn't seen before. From the moment I first arrived until FF started performing, the DJ played pre-recorded music - mostly GoGo, which of course I liked, but while the pre-recorded music played, the speaker volume was louder than at any other performance I've been to. This performance/dance area is rather narrow; I would say around 12' wide. The couches were black with matching tables and red ashtrays - the table across from the couch I sat at had a checkerboard, with checker pieces that were shot glasses with red or black circles on them. There also were gray plush backless benches. The drums were the first instruments to be set up, by Packy and a support guy (I believe Jermaine). In the process, Packy lip-synched on the mic to the pre-recorded music, included a Rare Essence song with Donnell on vocals.

As the band members arrived, they encouraged me to check out the free buffet, which was good. Donnell let me know that they would be playing at 12:30 AM. DJ Rico, a large man (over 6' and over 300 pounds), DJed - he wore shorts and a short-sleeved shirt that were black with a green grid pattern, as well as white socks and black sneakers. I got to see him set up as well.

Familiar Faces
They had an altered line up for this performance: there were two keyboards as usual, but besides Godfather, the other keyboard player was Duane "Duane Face" Henderson, playing a Yamaha Motif6 (when I spoke with him on June 22nd, he said this was his first time playing with FF). There was also a third percussionist, and Boolah and Doc weren't present (Doc was on vacation). BJ played the electric bass instead of keyboards: Duane Face was basically filling in for Doc. Since it was 70s night, the front four (Mike, Adia, Donnell, and DP) were more dressed up and all of them wore hats. A number of people in the audience (both male and female) wore afro wigs.

Unlike most of their performances I have been to, they started off using the entire percussion instead of drum kit, while still performing much of their usual neo-soul set - this of course made it funkier! During their performance of Rare Essence's Take Me Out to the GoGo, Donnell spotted Go-Go Mickey in the audience. It turns out this was a pre-arranged, paid appearance, see here. He wore a white basketball jersey with "Rare Essence" and the number 23 printed on the front and "Mickey" and the number 23 on the back. Donnell sent his friend "Fats" to go get Mickey to come up and play with him - "a reunion" in Donnell's words. Go-Go Mickey came in during the song and played with FF for the rest of the night.

After the first set ended, Donnell encouraged people to go to the buffet and also to the back where the 70s costume contest was being conducted ($250 each to the best male and female costumes), but said, "Fats" has already won the male costume. Fats wore a black wide-brimmed hat, a red shirt, and a black full-length coat.

As usual, the last set was the best. This was without a doubt, the crankiest performance I've been to this summer. After they turned the lights on (an obvious sign it was almost time to leave) came the highlight of the night - a furious percussion trio of Pooh, Bojack and Mickey. A girl came up and got me to dance during this trio (she was rather thin, I could feel her ribs when we danced), but we stopped when they started playing at a pace too fast to dance to - eventually BJ and Godfather comped their trio, which finally ended when Bojack walked away with a smile. Then Donnell encouraged them to start a new groove, "One that you had to be 35 to know" - it was what is known as 2001 - actually the opening to Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra, which was in the opening to the movie 2001 - together with guitar and keyboards. Then the whole band started to perform again and the lights went out again: they performed one full song, then a fragment and the lights went on again and management said - that's it. The ending was also unusual - other than Donnell kidding Bojack about "David Green and Jungle Boogie" (two prior Rare Essence percussionists), Bojack did the after-performance joning, mostly picking on various people for their unfashionable clothing. I left after he finished. I drove home, but got lost on the way back, missing the transition from NY Av to Mass Av as I did coming home from the Market Lounge.

Rest in Peace to Len Bias, who died on this day eighteen years ago.

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

Familiar Faces
I arrived shortly before 10 PM and just managed to catch Familiar Faces before they started - initially there were only five guys performing - Donnell, DP, BJ, Pooh and Doc - they performed Miles Davis' Tutu. They had a guest keyboard player, Donnell said, "He had just turned 15, they found him in the ball room at Chuck E. Cheese's". I didn't know the name of the tune they performed off the top of my head, but it is the Roots' You Got Me. Later, they performed "Secrets" (Alicia Keys' Diary) on request. The highlight of the first set was Seals & Crofts' Summer Breeze, punctuated by a strong guitar solo by Boolah. Donnell said, "He didn't used to play like that, when I first met him, he played like sh*t."

In the audience again were the police lieutenant Clark (off duty and out of uniform as I have always seen him) and Ebony (I meant to get her name, but it is hard talking to people while FF is peforming), both of whom I met at Takoma Station on May 19th. Kevin, the guest vocalist last week? was also there, as was Brandon, the guy I talked to two weeks ago. Also, during the first set, Donnell was upset that a fan wore a Detroit Pistons jersey (#11 - Isiah Thomas' # - I saw a guy with an Indiana Thomas jersey at Mayo Island), "disrespecting me, don't you know I'm a (Washington) Wizards fan? (Any local sports fan knows that three of the Pistons starting five (Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, and Rip Hamilton) started their NBA careers in Washington before being traded away.)" FF razzed the Lieutenant, mocking his voice saying that's my favorite song (Diary), calling him to come forth and give dancing lessons (I am no great dancer, but his dancing is distinctive and most people I have noticed watching him find it amusing).

The second set, the GoGo set, cranked as usual. During the set, Tara St. John, who had black hair tied back and wearing a pink t-shirt danced in unison with the front line during an instrumental solo. The best tune was the second to last, Family (for the lyrics go here). There was a girl named Imani (I got her name June 26th) with long black hair, glasses, a gold top, and black slacks who smiled a big smile during that song. I had thought she looked familiar, and it just dawned on me: she was one of the bartenders at the Market Lounge on May 17th. As usual, they closed with Prince's Purple Rain. Then Donnell went on joning: (Michael) Jordan came up. Someone said, "He never lost", to which Donnell replied "Nick Anderson (1995 Eastern Conference Finals Orlando vs. Chicago), took the ball away from him, raped him, molested him. Jauhar, don't you talk, your man Allen Iverson chased away his coach, Larry Brown. Now where is Allen Iverson with his coach? At home playing Nintendo since May. 'Practice!'" Donnell also made fun of two girls standing together responded by saying "did you switch outfits, one gets top, and one bottom?" (One of the girls had a white top, black slacks, and the other reversed). Donnell said "Jauhar is running for Mayor, couldn't be any worse than Marion Barry, anything to keep that closet door closed..." Jauhur then said, "Only someone from Duke Ellington (the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, a DC High School) would talk like that, they need to take a class (on joning?) to graduate." Donnell said, "Gaithersburg High, Jauhur was voted "Most Likely To Succeed", Michael Smith, Jauhar Abraham? Michael Smith, middle name was Bartholomew, changing his name..." Jauhar, responded "That while we were playing football and basketball, Donnell was taking ballet and tap dancing, a saxophone on his back and ballet shoes around his neck." Donnell then brought Bojack into it, saying "Bojack wore EEBs?" Bojack responded by going over to take the mic, Donnell told the sound man to cut off the mic.

After that, I was about to leave, but Adia told me to wait, she went to get their other album (A live 2-CD performance March 31st, 2004 at Takoma Station) to sell to me. Even though PA Palace and Showplace both sell copies (and PA Palace also sells another April 1-CD performance), I prefer to buy directly from the band. The other band members joked about what I was paid Adia for. While I waited, members of FF and their significant others told stories about funny incidents involving Rare Essence members in the past.

When I did walk out, I talked to Godfather; he gave me some suggestions - video & still camera. He also suggested I go with FF to talk with Tom (Goldfogle) & Becky of Liaison.

Rare Essence at Club U
Club U (inside Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center), 2000 14th Street NW Suite 10, Washington, DC 20009

Even though Familiar Faces was performing on Saturday night on the Odyssey, sponsored by the Positive Black Men Coalition, I decided to check out Rare Essence, to see how the band is now that the core of 911/Familiar Faces is gone from it. Unfortunately, I made 2 tactical errors: I decided to take the Metro instead of driving (Club U is only a little over a block from the U Street-Cardoza station) which meant I could not stay for the whole show, and I arrived too early. I called Club U at 9 PM to ask when they would open doors for the show, they said 10. So I arrived a little after 10:30, guessing that RE would start performing some time around 11 PM. I was not the only one taking the Metro there, as I followed two girls from the Metro straight to Club U. I had a few Cokes while waiting for Rare Essence to start up and the bartender correctly figured I had never been there: she kept waving to me, but I figured she was trying to signal someone else, until the guy next to me (wearing a t-shirt with the word "Brooklyn" printed on it) tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to her. She told me about the free buffet, where I got some chicken wings (whole wings, not like a wing place). I was not the only one who didn't already know about the free buffet, because a guy asked me if "The grub was free?" I told him where to get it. I also noticed that they sold roses (the Market Lounge and Mad Chef Cafe sell Polaroid pictures taken on site with a background of Moet Champagne bottles).

Rare Essence
Rare Essence didn't start performing until after 12:30, by which time I had been long bored with waiting (given that I didn't know anyone there). Before they started performing, the MC said he saw a lot of women violating the dress code; they should go to the bathroom and look in the mirror, that at the half, he would pick out the women dressed horribly and say "Unh". They started up with Take Me Out to the Go-Go, mellow at first. I liked the first set, but don't like Club U's set up - there isn't enough open space - like the bars when I was an undergrad at College Park, people are pushing through to move around the entire time and there is little space between people - I hate that! I was directly behind the soundboard for the first set, a girl I later learned is named Lisa was there. The DJ booth, next to the sound board, acts as an obstacle for the right stage speaker, therefore I couldn't hear the band they way I should where I was (I didn't want to be on the dance floor directly, since I couldn't see the band from there). I saw Familiar Faces' sound man, Jazz, come in during the first set and said Hi to him. People dance in a number of ways at the GoGos I have been to, but normally they don't dance frantically. Tonight was an exception: there was a guy in blue jeans with a black t-shirt and black baseball cap who was intentionally dancing as spastically as he could.

I moved after the first set ended, so that I was out of the way. During the break, the same guy in the "Brooklyn" t-shirt asked me to "Smack the ass of one of the three girls by me, to get their attention for him." Instead, I tapped the shoulder of the closest one and got her attention - he was clearly disappointed and said so. The girl next to her clearly knew him. A couple of minutes later, another girl tried to get to his female friend, but he told her not to and me to block her - I told her, he's just trying to get me in trouble. A few minutes later, she and I grinded briefly. Then I saw the friend (the one he wanted the attention of) giving a guy a hand job on the outside (with his pants on) (it certainly shocked me).

The second set started up, and I remained where I was. The music cranked more and the sound improved. Mid-way through the set, the girl I grinded with motioned for me to grind with one of her friends, who wore a pink shirt with the words, "Heavy Metal Lover" printed on it. Of all the performances I've been to, this is the only venue that has lights on during the entire performance. Unfortunately, I told her I had to go, as even though I was having a good time and the music cranked, I couldn't afford to miss the last train at the Metro stop. Even the most casual observer would have noticed that the women dressed more scantily than at the other GoGos I've been to.

I left shortly after 2:30 AM, when the second set was still going. Even so, I only beat the last train by 9 minutes. In a way, the evening was symmetrical - I noticed a girl in my train car on the Red line on the way home who had been in my car on the way down. When I got to Bethesda, the station closed when the last passengers got off the train - the station attendant locked the gate when I was part way up the escalator.

RE's line up is similar in composition to Familiar Faces', but they had a trombone, and the single keyboard player had three keyboards.

Club U closed in February 2005, so this will remain my only visit there.

Friday Night at the Safari Steakhouse
Safari Steakhouse 9430 Annapolis Road Lanham MD 20706

Familiar Faces
Due to the heavy rain, I arrived a little late, but early enough to get there before Familiar Faces started peforming. Donnell again teased his friend "Big Don Pimp." There were three sets, the first one neo-soul - punctuated by Boolah's kickin' guitar solo in Seals & Crofts' Summer Breeze. Mike Muse complained about "Not getting any mail today because of the Anti-Christ" (it was a federal holiday for Reagan's funeral). A girl asked me to dance, but I begged off because one of my teeth ached, but over time as I got into the music, I ignored the pain. She came by later and got me to dance, unfortunately, she obviously didn't like my dancing 'cause she left shortly to dance with some other guy. The second set had a guest male vocalist and another percussionist subbing for Packy. Another guest sang a few words in Rare Essence's Take Me Out To the Go-Go. The third set as usual, cranked the most of the sets - there was a guest rapper. Unfortunately, several minutes after the performance ended, a couple of fights broke out.

I think all of the guest performances I have witnessed emphasize the communal nature of the performances. It is about having a good time, especially with friends. Friends are recognized beyond the shout-outs during the performance: the band members greet and talk with the friends during breaks.

Note: Another posting on this performance

Thursday at Cranberries
Cranberries, 5740 Silver Hill Rd, Suitland, MD 20747

I arrived at Cranberries a little after 8 PM. Cranberries is an African-American owned upscale restaurant (entrees range from $10.49-$21.49) and bar. I sat in the no-smoking section, where Familiar Faces was set up. They perform at Cranberries every other week and do not perform GoGo there - not all of Familiar Faces was present for that reason.

Familiar Faces
The line up was Mike Muse, D-Floyd, Doc, Pooh, Godfather, and BJ. They peformed the neo-soul and jazz covers (I don't believe there were any originals) that they normally feature in their Jazz sets. I believe I arrived before they started performing. Some of the waitress had an unusual hair style - their black hair was partially dyed red, mostly in their single pony tail - it was vaguely reminiscent of a rooster (at least to me it was). They performed three sets - the restaurant was pretty packed during the first two sets.

At the beginning of the second set, they tried to get a friend, nicknamed "Luigi of the Super Mario Bros." to play on Godfather's keyboard, but after warming up, he decided not to. Mike Muse did offer congratulations to the large wedding party present and noted the passing of Ray Charles.

The last set, as usual, cranked the most. Also, during the set, Mike Muse spoke out about politics in the world today including the current president "Not liking people of my color." "Little Big Harold" sat in on trumpet for a little while, with and without a Harmon mute. At the end, Donnell joned as usual - talking about how they alternate Thursdays with "Little Big Harold", who replied, that's "Mr. Little Big Harold." Donnell also talked about how Jauhar had been wrong about the Lakers that he didn't know about Mr. Miracle (Kobe). Jauhar called him after he thought the Pistons had won, but then after the Lakers won, Donnell called him three minutes later, he never answered, even though Donnell called him one hundred times.

Wednesday at the Takoma Station
Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

Familiar Faces
Boolah & Bojack weren't present for the first set, but Familiar Faces still held its own. Pooh's drumming and the vocals by Sweet Adia & Mike really hit the beat in the first set. Donnell invited a guest vocalist named Kevin to sing, he was nervous at first and got Donnell to start for him, but he was good once he got warmed up. Donnell insisted he was "Fifteen, just taken to Chuck E. Cheese's." At one point, Kobe Bryant was being shown on ESPN on the TV. Donnell said "That's the most talented basketball player on the planet, Jelly Bean's boy, Kobe. Kobe could take Michael (Jordan) at twenty-five." To this, Mike Muse responded, "Sorry, he forgot his medication today. Maybe Mike Tyson, but not Michael Jordan. Back in the day you were saying the same about Michael towards Dr. J, whose jock will you be on next?" More joning went on back and forth. Donnell went over various announcement of future shows, including a splash party - "This time we'll keep it wholesome. (PA Palace sells X-rated videos of some GoGo pool parties).

At the intermission, I spoke with those members of Familiar Faces that I didn't know the names of. The second set was what really cranked. Ebony was back, I couldn't get her name (until June 24th)- she was wore a Celtics cap that matched her green shirt. She again briefly rapped (during the second set). After they finished performing, Donnell again went on about various people, teasing Cookie (a bleach-blonde) and Michelle, "Last year she couldn't go to pool parties, she was a couple of Reeces Pieces away from..." - Michelle hit him playfully with her purse.

As I walked out, Godfather asked me how I liked the show and suggested I videotape one of their performances.

Non-GoGo: Antibalas at the Black Cat
Instead of attending Familiar Faces' performance at the Safari Steakhouse, I went with my friend Joe to see Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra.
Black Cat 1811 14th St NW, Washington, DC

As the name implies, they are an Afrobeat band. I had missed seeing them when they came by UNC in December, plus this was a record release party for their album to be released on June 8th, Who Is This America?. I counted 13 members of the band (1 trombone player, 2 saxophone players, 2 trumpet players, 2 guitar players, 1 bass player, 1 keyboardist, 2 drummers (drum kit & congas), 1 percussionist, and the lead vocalist/percussionist). They played 2 sets. They made a lot of political statements (which annoyed Joe), but surprisingly they never mentioned their new album. Their first song (don't remember the title), was really laid back, but the 2nd song "Security" and 3rd song really cranked. Joe said they reminded him of the Groove Collective and that "now he knows where the Dead Heads have gone..." (of which Joe is one). Another song in the 2nd set, led by one of the Sax players, really cranked as well. There was a nice girl (a tall curly brunette wearing a white shirt and black slacks) who in a friendly way encouraged me and other guys to dance more rigorously. The only real negative was twice being behind people dancing really vigorously who kept backing up, forcing me to keep backing up. I just listened to the album, which I copped at the performance - it's really good. I like their CDs, but those 3 crankin' tunes aside, I was bored at times - the other songs really didn't hold my attention. Their recordings sustain me more because I am doing other things while listening.

Wednesday at Howard University
The Moorland-Spring Research Center, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059

Today was a productive and fun day. I went down to Howard University and visited the Founders Library's Moorland-Spring Research Center. While I was there, I perused Sia Robinson's 1990 Masters Thesis in Human Communication Studies "A Qualitative Analysis of the Nature and Meaning of Go-Go Music". It should be a good reference tool for shaping my own thesis.

I thought about how people have discussed that due to internet downloading of music, that eventually albums will only be used as promotions for attending concert performances. That's pretty much what PA tapes/CDs are for GoGo bands right now because they don't get royalties on them, just an up-front fee for a copy of the master.

Wednesday at Takoma Station
In the evening, I went to see Familiar Faces at Takoma Station, 6914 4th St NW, Washington, DC 20012

Familiar Faces
As usual, they started off with their Jazz set, but even that cranked, particularly their rendition of Grover Washington, Jr.'s Mr. Magic - the tune that is supposed to have set the beat for GoGo. Another guy in the audience, Brandon, asked me for details on the band. Donnell razzed GoGo Mickey in the audience, talking about a band he used to belong to, the now-defunct Reality Band (I have some of their PA's, they crank). He said they only played at one place, "The Bus Stop", that any place beyond The Black Hole is Silver Spring. He said GoGo Mickey was only allowed off the porch on Saturdays. He also picked on "Big Pimp Don", saying I know your name is really Donald, to which Don pulled out his license.

As usual, the GoGo set cranked, with GoGo Mickey sitting in for a few songs. They closed with Prince's Purple Rain, with a heavy guitar solo at the end by Clarence "Boolah" Roper, but Donnell picked on his use of effect pedals - "Jimi Hendrix, one pedal, etc." I had looked over the pedals during a break - there are a lot of them in Boolah's set-up.

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.

Friday at Safari Steakhouse
Safari Steakhouse, 9430 Annapolis Road Lanham MD 20706

I had a big headache on Thursday, so I missed their performance at Cranberries. This was a convenient drive shortly off the beltway, although I had to stop for gas. I arrived plenty early, and got a table facing the middle of the bandstand. This was another event to celebrate Donnell's birthday.

Familiar Faces
Milton "Go-Go Mickey" Freeman sat in on congas for a stretch, and Donnell told a story of how Footz (Quentin Davidson, the late drummer for Rare Essence) brought Go-Go Mickey to Rare Essence from the now-defunct Ayre Rayde (in Donnell's words, "A bunch of Maryland dudes") to replace Jungle Boogie. Donnell had some more humorous talks; including chiding one of the guys for not coming to the Takoma Station performances because his woman wouldn't let him. He said his friend could borrow his book, called "How to handle it." This was another great performance, lasting until 2:45 AM. There were three sets, with a DJ playing music in between.