Friday Fun with Ms. Dayne

AZ88, A Favorite Restaurant in PHX
Originally uploaded by EdnPHX.

Well, I can now officially say that I saw Taylor Dayne. The show was an absolutely wonderful time. And, let me tell you, that woman has got one hell of a voice. A screaming black diva in a white gal’s body. Wow. The venue was pretty good. The concert was a fundraiser for Body Positive, our local Aids task force group. It was at the Scottsdale Center For Performing Arts, which is conveniently located right next to one of my favorite restaurants AZ88. So, as you can imagine it was swarming with homosexuals, heterosexuals, metrosexuals, metrosexuals that are actually homosexuals, and of course a slew of fag hags. (I use those terms in jest, as I refuse to be overly PC). The night started out with Kelly and Bill coming over and then driving over to the venue. I always have a ball of fun with these guys. They are they type of guys you’d want to hang out with when you want to let your hair down and get all loose-lipped and just KNOW you’re going to have a good time. Of course that usually happens with me with anyone, after 3 cosmopolitans.

Anyway, we started out at AZ88 and it was pretty crowded for 6:00pm on a Friday. Most people were going to the show next door, but I’m sure there were a fair share of other people there to eat as well. After about 3-4 drinks we moved over to the venue. It was like a huge club inside. A DJ was spinning, the drinks were flowing and the gays were throwing drama all over the room. Yes, this was a gay event. The fun of having Kelly and Bill with you is that they know a lot of the little things that you would never know about people in the room. Of course I found it humorous at how familiar some of these people looked. You know, would life be easier if just people would wear their screen names on a nametag? “Oh YOUR hungdude4u!, You look so much taller in your pics.” “Now wait, you can’t be TOPJOCK35…you’re like 60 years old.” Of course, the three of us comparing notes got all the info we could possible need. Imagine having a Rosetta stone for the gay online world.

No sooner did I figure out who HUNGJOCK4U was, then we were being directed into the theatre to see the show. Kelly got us great seats, of course as he would concur, there are no bad seats in the place. Kimberly Locke opened the show and did a pretty good job. I have to admit, she was pretty good for being the looser on American Idol. Well, I didn’t mean “looser”…hell, she did get a record deal. She finished her performance with the song “Over the Rainbow”, which she did a great job. I wonder why she picked that song? Hmmmm.

Taylor Dayne finally made it on the stage, and she really held court. This woman can sing, gosh darnit! She sang all the tunes you’ve grown up with. To many to list, but it brought back memories of 1987 and high school in the back seat of a Chevy Celebrity. Sigh. Anyway, one point to mention is that she had a really hot guitarist in her band. Very cute. Also, her back up singer was pretty darn good as well. All in all, it was a great night.

Woke up this morning with a bit of a hangover. Nothing that 4 Advil Liquigels can’t handle. So this morning, I did a ton of laundry and starting to plan out my next trip to Minneapolis. Going there Monday for three days for work. It’s been crazy at work. Had to lay off 112 people here in Phoenix. The good part is that I wasn’t alone in delivering a message like that. I had 2 managers with me. A lot of people freak out when they hear stuff like that. I was lucky that the people took the message pretty well, and that they have a 90 day working notice period, before they go out on severance. It’s the part of my job that I don’t like, but yet, it is my job. I try to structure the message in as much of a positive light as I can. It’s hard but yet, it’s got to be done.
That’s why I needed last night…to remind me that life CAN be fun as well. It was a great way to end a hard week. Now, just looking forward to relaxing as much as possible this weekend. More stories to come, I’m sure of it.

www.az88.com
www.phoenixbodypositive.org