This past weekend I attended one show that was a part of the Bay Area Ladyfest 2002, a weeklong festival of art exhibits, workshops, film screenings and performances, all with a female focus. The particular event I attended took place at the mission high school auditorium, a strange venue to catch one of the greatest contemporary rock bands to bend my ear with the pure sound of sexy southern blues salvation in many years, and that band is The Gossip. Although their popularity is rapidly growing and they could easily sell out a number of our regular venues, The Gossip nestled into this bill quite comfortably, having played the very first Ladyfest in Olympia Washington two years ago as a young band relocated from Searcy, Arkansas with less than a year together under their belts. Although The Donnas headlined on this night of entertainment, the Gossip were clearly the “home team” of the event, their politics and demeanor being the most naturally congruous to the Ladyfest spirit. In fact, I must admit that I didn’t actually stay for the Donnas set, opting for a badly needed gin and tonic after such a firey blast of Arkansas heat. They don’t serve those at Mission High School and I didn’t think any band could have served up anything as great as The Gossip did, and seemingly always do.
I must admit that I was just a bit nervous about attending this show based on my own past experiences as a male attending a female oriented function. I’ve always been an ardent supporter of the lesbian community, and when attending any event of this nature I’ve always exercised a heightened sensitivity and respect for the sanctity of a female dominant event or space, be it the dance floor at Junk, a show by a band with a big dyke following or dropping by a lesbian potluck in Eugene Oregon in 1980. I’ve always tried to ascertain if my presence was opressive, if it was okay as long as I minded my manners and stayed out of the way or if it was totally accepted and welcome and I’ve noted a variety of responses. The potluck was shocking, every guest quickly jamming into the kitchen and not coming out until I had left the premises, even hurling a few deragatory remarks. I can also recall a few visits to the pioneering dyke punk rock club Female Trouble when certain patrons were so hostile to me that some of my dyke pals had to intervene to prevent violence, and on occasion I’ve been edged off of a dance floor or mosh pit at predominantly female events. In all instances I respectfully deferred, and in anticipation of Ladyfest I was prepared to do the same depending on if I sensed that sort of vibe regarding my attendance.
As I joined the ranks of many lining up outside on the mission high school steps, I noticed that I was certainly not the only male present and, if anything, my Columbine High School t-shirt probably raised more eyebrows than the fact that I was vaginally impaired. I’m pleased to report that I detected not even the slightest bit of dismay or attitude of that old school nature, just a lot of friendly young faces enthused about being there, serving as a giant reminder that my initial apprehensions about attending the event were based on experiences from as long ago as twenty years. Things have definitely progressed and changed, and I’ve been kicking around in the queer scenes of SF for a long time. Waiting in line outside of a high school in a crowd that could actually pass as the student body to the casual onlooker really drove that point home. Once I gained entry I was overcome by a distinctly juvenile need to find a place to sneak a cigarette! I might be a lot older, but I’m still bad news.
The line-up of performers that night included a great female rapper called Jymini, an edgy synth/guitar band called squab, a spoken word/rap performance on defying and challenging the concept of gender identification by tranny-boy performers Mr. V and Rocco, an ass-kicking set by an extra-animated and funny Tribe 8, led by the ultimate punk rock bad boy Lynne Breedlove, who just finished a book tour for her first novel Godspeed, an unforgettably brilliant literary debut by my favorite homosexual on this planet. Next up was a wonderful reading by Michelle Tea from her upcoming third book, due out in september, which seems to focus mostly on her childhood and shows a definite vitality, fantastic detail and an overall honing in and tightening of her award winning literary skills. I can’t wait to read it all. Michelle’s work has always been a revelation to me. Then came a performance by a group called Boy Wonder who were essentially a tranny-boy band in the great boyband tradition of say N’sync, who did an absolutely perfect choreographed dance routine that was not only very funny but perfectly executed and hot. They really got the crowd riled up and more than ready for the Gossip.
Guitar, drums and voice make for a pretty simple set-up and before you knew it the band was in place and Beth Ditto grabbed the microphone from it’s stand and said, “Hey bitches!” She complimented the previous performers and the event itself and they started a slower-tempo song that I didn’t recognize and Beth began to sing. In that short amount of time (most Gossip songs clock in at about one and a half to two minutes) her voice graduated from strong, assured and gutsy to a powerful, chill-inducing passionate crescendo of pure undiluted soul. The audience was immediately swept into a state of joyous hysteria and the band slammed into it’s familiar crunching rockabilly/blues stomp and all members, the audience and a large group of girls on rollerskates behind the band erupted in synonomous motion. This was the shit, the most authentic embodiment of the sin, sex and release of rock and roll, the salvation and spirit of a new gospel and the hard truth of the blues. There’s something really big and true going on here, and truth is eternal.
Beth, who just recently turned 21 is known to speak her mind between songs sometimes and at one point she said she just thought of something that pissed her off. She continued, “When I’m up here singing for y’all, that’s what I do, that’s what I love doing the most, what I’ll always do, and it just doesn’t seem right that I have to be back at home by Monday at 6:00 AM to go to work.”
Beth also dedicated a song to the memory of her aunt, who died at the age of 47 and was one of the first people to say to her, “Beth, get the fuck out of here.” Their latest record Arkansas Heat is dedicated “to all the kids and grown-ups alike stuck in a shitty small town.”
The Gossip are a band with a mission, and no part of that mission is one bit wrong. Rock and Roll saved their lives and you best believe they are returning the favor in kind every time they play.
Many years ago when I made a break from a shitty small town and ended up here in everyone’s favorite city, I discovered a brilliant performer quite by accident in the back showroom of bar off polk street. This person set many standards and was a constant source of awe and amusement to me over the years. In spite of her death over ten years ago, Doris Fish still cuts the most stunning figure in the memories of so many friends and fans, and at long last, a cast of her dearest friends and collaborators are bringing her story to the stage in one part of a trilogy of one act plays. Running AUGUST 29 – Sept. 22, 2002 at Theater Rhinoceros studio, Jennifer Blowdryer & Phillip R. Ford present LET’S TALK ABOUT ME – Three One-Act Comedies exploring the public and private lives of Liberace, Doris Fish and Jennifer Blowdryer.
BEHIND THE CANDELABRA – MY LIFE WITH LIBERACE is directed by jennifer blowdryer and stars Phil Ford as Liberace—based on the book by Scott Thorsen, liberace’s one-time chauffeur
SIMPLY STUNNING – THE DORIS FISH STORY–a one-“woman” play starring Arturo Galster. Based on the writings and the life of Doris Fish, adapted for the stage and directed by Phillip R. Ford.
WHITE TRASH DEBUTANTE from the novel by Jennifer Blowdryer, adapted for the stage by Jennifer Blowdryer and Alvin Orloff, directed by Laurie Bushman, featuring Jennifer Blowdryer as herself
This project marks the return of Phillip R.Ford to the theater after a seven year absence, and reunites several friends and performers and collaborators of yesteryear to a new and current project together. For years I’ve been waiting to see the ever fantastic performer Arturo Galster tackle the role of Doris Fish, as I believe he is the only person in the world who possibly could, and I’ve heard him do the voice once or twice at parties.
I’m also quite interested in Jennifer Blowdryers story as it seems I came onto the scene right around the time Jennifer moved to New York and all I really knew about her was her hilarious book MODERN ENGLISH: A TRENDY SLANG DICTIONARY which featured many pictures of my friends and quotes and fun terms like “artfags” and “speed freaks” defined at length.
For all practical purposes I cant see how this night of theater could be anything less than exciting and a welcome return to show business for Phillip R. Ford, whose skewed comic genius I’ve always stood behind. He’s the king of “no-hidden-meaning-entertainment” and knows how important glamour will always be.