Hot town, summer in the city
Photo by Kyle Dean Reinford
Everyone loves a three-day weekend, and I try to make the most of mine. But this one was pretty damn crazy!
Friday: Saw my dad, ate Five Guys with Rosemary, and then some Sex Dwarf. We took abinka with us, so she got to take a tumble in Mr. Sexxx E. Carr's back seat. Sex Dwarf was pretty fun, though it was hot as hell in there. I sweat into my eyes all night, so they were horribly red by the end. It was the first time I took photos there with the Leica, and they came out pretty well despite my not knowing what settings I wanted to use. Robert and Marilyn played great sets, and it was nice to see them and the Sex Dwarf crowd. But it wasn't a typical Sex Dwarf - too many normal people, we said - but it was damn good. This Asian guy found a way to sneak up and grind away on any woman that dared breathe, whom abinka barely escaped. And I had to contend with a pair of drunk Manayunk-type girls who decided to molest me. One of them smacked my ass as I was talking to someone; I turned around and she said, "Just kidding! Just kidding!" What the hell?
Saturday: The Roots Picnic! The hottest ticket this side of the Glow in the Dark Tour, on the hottest day of the year so far. Man, it was HOT outside. It was FOT - effin' hot. Rosemary and I brought three big bottles of water, ran in the sprinklers, ate water ice, and hung out in the air-conditioned tent when we had a chance. The people watching was intense: the overwhelming majority of white college kids (the "woo!" crowd), trustafarians, scenesters and hipsters, black bohemians, club kids, and a few old hippies. And of course, Philly woman in summertime just can't resist having their shit hanging out all over the place; an endless parade of sausage-casing, too-tight clothes and sweaty tits pressed hard like muffin tins.
Rosemary and I got there about two hours in, so we missed Santogold and Esperanza. We caught the end of J*Davey's awesome set - a sexy, sleek, electric dirty sound, they have. (Their lead singer, Briana Cartwright aka J*Davey, is a music producer on "Ellen.") Cool Kids had a nice old-school rap energy to them, and were just happy to be there. The Roots played two sets - the first a mini-set where Black Thought sang a soul melody as Philly mainstays DJ Jazzy Jeff and trombonist Jeff Bradshaw joining the crew. Rosemary and I didn't like Deerhoof - they sounded like twee and fury signifying nothing. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings were as blistering as the heat, Jones sultry, gyrating and jerking as the sun went down. It still was hot as hell when The Roots turned out a super-awesome set where they played their songs along with everything from Timbaland to Biz Markie to MIMS to Iron Butterfly. Original Roots bassist Leon Hubbard even came to show who's boss. Five years after I last saw them, The Roots are still among the best live acts today - who else can have TWO bass solos (one funk, one rock) and have a dude rocking a sousaphone?
After that, everything seemed over, but as we almost left, we saw the stagehands setting up again, and Gnarls Barkley closed out the show with their rock-soul gospel message. They wore prep-school outfits of blazers, bowties and Bermuda shorts. (Cee-Lo didn't wear his outfit for long, sayign it was "hotter than a motherfucker." Cee-Lo also said he wouldn't object if women "get your titties out" because it was so hot out. They did a very good set, and it was funny to see Danger Mouse playing the xylophone during "Gone Daddy Gone."
I took a shitload of pictures that I still have to go through, but Kyle Dean Reinford took way better ones.
Sunday: We lazed around the house (including being entertained by guinea pig Coffy, who is summering in Rosemary's air-conditioned bedroom), trying to recuperate from being in the heat all day. Eventually we got up, saw Rosemary's parents, and walked Trixie with us to Rita's Water Ice. When we got back, Trixie fell out on the kitchen tile, tongue out, panting away. Did some more lazing about, and then got on the road back to CT, tired as hell, but happy.