Deep Dish: April 20, 2014

Fourth Anniversary Thurs, April 17 @ Crews & Tangos

Go Hard Sat, April 19 @ Club120

Some say opposites attract. I say they’re the opposite. This weekend sees me running the gamut of the gay party scene. At one end of the spectrum is Crews & Tangos, kicking off its fourth-anniversary celebrations. Owners Michal Ramawad and Paras Prashad have gone all out, providing serious swag bags for guests, a guarded display of jewels by LAG Concepts (“the official jewellers of Crews”) and new flowery decorations in the main room. “We’re going to add more and more decorations every week as we get closer to WorldPride,” Prashad says. It’s standing room only on the main floor as almost every queen in the city makes an appearance onstage. New queens Naomi Campbellsoup (who wins third place in the Miss Crews Pageant a few days later) and Ala Mode prove their worth alongside veterans Vitality Black, Daytona Bitch and the outgoing Miss Crews, Ivory Towers. Even though there have been grumblings by some ladies about their management style, the owners have smartly used the club and their influence to get many of the regular performers bookings at private parties and corporate events outside the gay bar scene. Crews has, in a sense, become a one-stop gay extravaganza. Also celebrating a fourth anniversary is DJ Blackcat’s Go Hard party at Club120. We’re there early, before the strippers and the crowds, but that doesn’t stop us from enjoying some dancehall in this (we hope) soon-to-be-full dance hall. It is a long weekend, after all.

Peepshow Thurs, April 17 @ Coda

At the other end of the gay party spectrum is Peepshow at Coda. We get there at about 1am and the club is ready to explode. Maybe even implode. It used to be called Tequila Lounge (the birthplace of Shane Percy’s Grapefruit oh-so-many years ago) and then the Annex WreckRoom. Now, with its centre-room bar replaced by a huge dancefloor surrounded by raised seating areas, an improved sound system, and flashier lights, it’s caught the discerning eye of Prism’s Gairy Brown. The décor, too, has been taken up a notch, with the addition of red Fly Nightclub-esque mirror balls and an impressive red, black and white, mod-style wall mural. Yes, that’s an eight-foot image of Brown’s beaming face overseeing the dancefloor. This is his house. I always find the crowds at these one-off events slightly off. It’s just a bit crazier, just a bit more intense, just a bit more sexually charged than a night in your everyday club. Perhaps it’s the grinding beats of DJ Francesco Pagano. Perhaps it’s the show by Gia (whose tastefully small titties tantalize) and her two beefy, sweat-drenched dancers that has the crowd mesmerized. We’re not sure exactly what we’re seeing, but it’s good enough to keep us watching and waiting. Perhaps it’s the fact that these parties always happen on long weekends. People seem to indulge just a little bit more when they have that extra day to recuperate. And repent. It is Easter weekend, after all.