aruan: (body language)
[personal profile] aruan
Big thanks to [livejournal.com profile] stamplet for transcribing my phone post from last night, though it wasn't terribly informative and mostly involved my whining about the cold. Because, okay, holding open-air concerts on the intracoastal in the middle of March? Would've been fine if we weren't all told to wear our South Beach clubbing best. As it was, this review would be a lot more detailed if most of my attentions hadn't been preoccupied with not catching hypothermia.

However, there's still being hit on by Paul Oakenfold, a surprise Chasez performance, Paris and Nick, and some other trippy cool acts. Not bad for a night of sitting around.

I wore a pink silk halter top with a large flower broach. From the way men on the freeway were pulling up next to me/catcalling/other such dangerous at 80 mph behavior, you'd think they'd never seen a girl dolled up. Sad, really, but mostly dangerous. Road, people!

Seatfiller definitely involves a high tolerance for standing around, which was fine once they moved us across the street from the red carpet arrivals. Dave Navarro would fit in my pocket, yo. Moby is bigger than him! No, really! Otherwise, it was like the Latin Billboard all over again, except I knew all the names but had absolutely no faces to put to them.

So we finally get inside. There's more waiting around before they start seating us, taking the first cluster of twenty which left the couple who had snuck in front of me and the rest of our group. At this point the theater was still relatively empty, so they were just sitting us down to see who would show and when and make do from there.

They take our group next, and get this - first row, center section. Huzzah! There was already a DJ spinning, and we were only about seven feet from the stage, so I'm all psyched because I know many of the people slated to perform and am looking forward to the show beyond JC, so I didn't even think to look before the girls next to me ask whose seat I'm in. I turn to check.

JC freakin' Chasez.

The discovery of which may have elicited a bit of a shriek, but that's right, kids, I was sitting in JC's seat, with the couple in line before me taking up Paris and Nick's seats, respectively from the end of the row. We all may have squeed a little. I basked for a long minute, then asked the guy sitting next to me (whose seat didn't have a name on it) to switch with me and may have made him promises I can't keep if his doing so meant I would be sitting next to JC for any or all parts of the show.

This switch of seating landed me between JC and Paul Oakenfold, who turned out to be much more of a character than I ever bargained for.

He shows up about twenty minutes after we'd gotten settled, a somewhat shortish man in sunglasses and artfully androgynous hair a la BT, and spreads himself over a seat and a half smiling like he'd already gotten the best action of the night and is very pleased to be here indeed. He surveys the stage for a moment, then turns to me and says in his outrageously sexy British accent, "Hello, I'm Paul Oakenfold," and holds out his hand, declaring that while he came alone, it would seem as though seating would have it that I be his date for tonight, belatedly making sure to ask the boy sitting next to me if I am his girlfriend. Then he makes the observation that I'm "a pretty girl" and asks how I'm doing, if I'm enjoying myself so far. Despite being a little dumbfounded (because ohmygodPaulfreakin'Oakenfoldishittingonme) I came off rather winningly, though I suspect he didn't much listen to my answers. *shrug* I already had afterparty plans anyway.

Carmen Electra is also very tiny and doesn't have much more going for her than her smile. Is it so hard to find a host who draws ratings as well as being able to read words over two syllables off a stinkin' TelePrompter? Yeesh. Tommy Lee is a very skinny man whose baseline seems to be coked-up. Boy George is just as off-putting and pretentious in person - no one with that much paint instead of hair on his head should take himself that seriously. Yoko Ono is a tiny little thing who couldn't read the TelePrompter because of her dark sunglasses, which was quite amusing.

Paris presented... something, wearing quite possibly the most heinous dress in all creation that actually made her look frumpy and fat, then came to claim her seat with a manager-looking type in a half-fedora. Upon closer observation, the inch-wide straps of said dress appeared to be made of rows of diamonds, and that's just excess beyond reason right there.

So, after I'd taken in all I could tolerate of Miss Hilton's deeply unfortunate fashion but tastefully expensive bracelets (huge colored diamonds set in a border of tiny white diamonds) I noticed they were setting up the stage again (the presenter's podium is off to the side with a large, center stage.) Except they were only removing equipment, not setting new stuff up, and they were marching out four girls wearing black bodices and spike-heeled boots. I'm all, 'Wait a minute,' then recognize one of them and maybe squeal a little, but definitely clutch at the guy sitting next to me, saying, "My boy is going to perform! I know those girls, my boy is performing!" (All the event info seemed to indicate he was merely there to present.) Having already heard my JC squee from before, he pretty much just took this all in stride, the good sport.

And perform he did. The sheer embroidered black shirt and sparkly black pants are back! Hallelujah and praise be! Also, he did the full song this time, bridge and all, and though the choreography was still different in parts, it was a lot more like what we saw during the December club tour than what he's been doing on the promotional tour. He looked so good! And the thing about an event centered around this kind of music? The sound was fantastic. So I'm sitting not seven feet away (and it was all I could do not to stand up) grooving along in my seat. He did great, the crowd loved him, lalala ofcoursecakes, but the thing is, I think the industry folk would've gotten a lot more out of it if he'd done a radio edited version of, say, Force of Gravity with BT spinning as he sang, which is what many of the other acts did. They showed a really cool performance by Puff Daddy last year, same idea - it just would've better kept with the theme of the show. Also, I really would've liked it and really, isn't that reason enough?

Sadly though, he never actually made it to his seat, and I eventually had to give mine to Rob Boldt who came a little after Nick, who looked nice in his brown mules, khaki pants, and baby blue button-down shirt. And, okay, so, Paris and Nick? Even blonder in person, if that were possible. Also, it bears mentioning that theirloveissonarcissistic in that consciously MFEO way. Not cuddly, but they held hands and whispered back and forth, wearing identical expressions of distinct boredom. Here's something cute though: when Paris first arrived, she asked down the line of us for a cigarette, which Nick actually cajoled away and stomped out when he showed up. Aaaw!

There was a very cool performance by the Crystal Method (who are totally insane, by the way) and a very wild looking man whose name I want to say was something exceedingly innocuous [ETA: John Garcia]. They did a song called Born Too Slow that brought the house down - even the techie girl standing on the stage's upper scaffolding was rocking out.

Did you know every song off Moby's Play has been used in a commercial? I'm not entirely certain this would be a point of pride for me, especially as an advocate of an environmentally friendly, Vegan, nonviolent lifestyle, all of which go against most of the basic types and tenets of advertising. *shrug* Just me though, apparently.

Paul Van Dyk looks more than a little like Adrian Brody. Mmm. He's also humble, speaks with a verra sexy German accent and an all-around classy gent.

There was a British girl sitting next to me at one point who caught the guy running drink orders for the celebs and requested a "vodka and orange." He told her it was called a Screwdriver, which she balked at and said to just make sure there's something alcoholic in whatever he brings. She ended up being moved not too soon after that, which meant I got to have my very first Screwdriver (on an empty stomach, having eaten a couple of latkes around ten o'clock this morning.) If nothing else, as there was hardly any alcohol in there to make it worth your while to water down the orange juice, it helped with the cold. Which, have I mentioned it really, really was?

Sander Kleinenberg won Best Remix for his take on Rock Your Body, which was fun. I do like what he did with it.

I could live a thousand lives and never see Dave Navarro wearing thigh-high white vinyl boots, matching miniskirt and nothing else and be a happy woman/man/vegetable/mineral.

The finale was a Blue Man Group homage/cover of Donna Summer's I Feel Love, sung fantastically by this lovely girl in a rainbow-colored dress that lit up in alternating stripes as she sang. The Blue Man Group boys really do put on a show - loved the water and colored lights on the drums bit. However, ultimately, it only served to get me singing One Night Stand all the way to my car.

Ran into the two girls I was sitting next to when they first sat us down (we'd also talked in line a bit) in the parking garage on the way out. They managed to stay together after they were moved and saw me grooving to JC in my seat! They said I was cute, which, probably true. We exchanged contact info and you know what, I think I'd make the drive back down to Miami to party with them.

Quotes of the Day:

"He's completely wicked... He's not a very serious kind of guy, yet he has this amazing raw natural ability. I felt utterly vindicated working with him. All my chin-stroking DJ friends were like, 'What the fuck are you doing with him?!' They all gave me shit about it. And now they're all falling over themselves to work with guys like JC and Justin. Be in no doubt - he is a talented man. Hanging out with JC was great. He has millions of stories from the road, just about all of which I can't repeat. Sadly."
-BT (from an interview about his collaborators in the Dancestar program)

Tease! But a flatterer, too, so we'll let is slide this time. Besides, it's not like we haven't done well being left to our own devices until now. ;)

You picked vocalists from such different walks of life on 'Kish Kash'...
"We didn't really plan it like that, but by the time we got to the end of the album, we were like, 'Wow, we've got a real diverse range of artists here.' We like the fact that we have people from very disparate strains, and they're all really cool in their own right. Probably the biggest surprise for us is JC from *NSYNC, because that wasn't planned at all. He was in London and said he wanted to meet us with a view towards producing something for his album. We were working on 'Plug It In' at the time, so he ended up being on that. He was really cool. First of all, he flattered us a lot and said we were really cool and told us what tracks he liked, and he was believable. So often you meet people in the music business and they're full of shit. He was cool and seemed to have a genuine love for music and wanted to do interesting things and was very happy to do anything we said. He's got talent."

-the Basement Jaxx

And there's no arguing with that. Also, JC the fanboy makes my toes curl.

Finally, there's a picture of Justin and Danny Tenaglia on the last page - apparently, they ran into each other while he was rehearsing for SNL and Tenaglia was in town to test out some new equipment. Anyway, the point of it really is Justin's shirt, which is bright red, and says, a la the Von Dutch logo, 'You Dork.' [[heart]]

Date: March 10th, 2004 10:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jenbeth78.livejournal.com
eeee how fun and exciting!!! glad you got that experience!

Date: March 10th, 2004 10:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com
I was so psyched about this because I knew most of the performing acts and have heard stuff by many of the others, and you know, sitting with celebrities is never bad. Paris and Nick! A foot away! They both looked lovely, tan and, as mentioned, very blonde. *g*

Date: March 10th, 2004 10:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] stamplet.livejournal.com
Eeee! Thanks for the recap!

Did he do the hip thrust/shimmy thing at the end of "Some Girls"? I miss that a lot.

the thing is, I think the industry folk would've gotten a lot more out of it if he'd done a radio edited version of, say, Force of Gravity with BT spinning as he sang, which is what many of the other acts did.

I agree. The Miami Herald said his performance was abrasive. They might not have been so sneery if he'd performed with BT or Basement Jaxx.

But whatever. The crowd loved him, right? And dude, you were sitting in JC's seat.....

Date: March 10th, 2004 10:53 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com
Entirely my pleasure. Such a fun night! Minus the cold, as previously noted. The guys next to me in long sleeves plus undershirt, jeans and closed shoes were complaining - it was all I could do not to tell them where to shove it. Brr.

Sadly, he did an only minor version of it surrounded by the girls. These new FCC regulations could make me cry, I swear.

It wasn't abrasive so much as out of place. No one else did anything like his performance, and they all had musicians and/or turntables. This was a music more than a performance event, so he was mostly just out of sorts.

I think if BT had won any of the boatloads of awards he was nominated for, he would've been there and that would've been the performance. *sigh* I'm so frustrated with JC not catching a single break on this album.

The crowd did love him though, cheering through half of Carmen's intro and really getting into the performance in a way only I Feel Love also managed. And dude, I was so sitting in JC's seat. That one took a minute or five to get over. *g*

Date: March 10th, 2004 10:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] geneli4.livejournal.com
oh! so much fun! thanks for sharing all the details - it's really just lovely of you!

Date: March 10th, 2004 10:54 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com
The entire evening (minus the cold) was my pleasure! Sharing is just good fun, and mostly, the way I ramble, I'm always surprised people wade through it all. *g* Glad you enjoyed!

Date: March 10th, 2004 10:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] charlidos.livejournal.com
Sweet! Thank you for that. I'm glad to hear JC's performances seemed to have gone over fairly well with the crowd - considering there's that sour remark in that Miami Herald article. I still think it's a little weird to still be plugging Some girls. But as long as he's plugging something...

And those road stories sound intriguing. Maybe someone can get BT to tell what they are. :)

Date: March 10th, 2004 11:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com
I commented to [livejournal.com profile] stamplet above that his performance was the one the crowd really responded to besides the final number, which was, ironically, the Donna Summer song he sampled in One Night Stand. *g* The Miami Herald didn't mean abrasive, they meant out of place. It wasn't the venue for a performance number - these are people who take their music very seriously and, obviously, make their living from making it, not performing it, which is why Force of Gravity or even Shake It (with the Jaxx spinning live, of course) would've been a much better choice. *sigh*

Hee. JC and his road stories. If only! Someone in this group needs to write a tell-all book, even if it would mostly just be stories of their late-night video game marathons and the occasional (gasp! shock!) groupie incident.

Date: March 10th, 2004 11:34 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fuskeez.livejournal.com
I'm just overwhelmed with how much fun that seemed to be. That's definitely my kind of evening, I'm so glad you got to go and enjoy yourself like that. And a bonus Chasez performance! Score! :)

Date: March 10th, 2004 11:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com
Dance and house music is really interesting because the fans are mellow and the artists are rarely known by face, so everyone there was really just there to have a good time. I like many of the acts but didn't know I was sitting among them until they were called up to accept stuff. Seatfillers is definitely a great way to see the show (for free!) from the best seats in the house.

I might know way more than healthy of the Some Girls choreography. But with the fantastic sound! And he looked so good! There's no resisting a combination like that.

Date: March 10th, 2004 11:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] madame-d.livejournal.com
*dies laughing and squees quietly* Your reports make me smile like a moron. So glad you had a blast. Also, BT you *tease*! Daaaaayum, can you *imagine* hearing one of those stories? *combusts*

Did you like the Screwdriver? After gin'n'tonic, my most fave drink ever.

Bweeeee! *twirls* Thank you for sharing that. Also, something I never thought I'd say: . He stole her cigarette? Hypocrite. ROFL

}:)

Date: March 10th, 2004 11:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com
Hee! Happy to be of amusement. *g*

BT is such a tease! I'm all, but moooooore. Hmph.

The Screwdriver was not bad, although as mentioned, could've used more vodka than ice and orange juice. It's definitely a nice way to get wasted quickly - I love orange juice, and it's already acidic and distinctive enough in taste to mask most of the bitterness of the vodka. Personally though, I'm still all about Midori Sours and Margaritas. Such a girl.

Paris and Nick are very cute, and very blonde. They seem to enjoy each others disenchanted, pretty company. He didn't steal her cigarette though! He just kind of wheedled it away from her, but only to stomp it out. What a guy!

Date: March 10th, 2004 12:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] madame-d.livejournal.com
Omisquee! Your ICON!!! That's SUCH a perfect caption! Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

They seem to enjoy each others disenchanted, pretty company.

They do, don't they? Someone told me that they've 'broken up' though? Obviously not true? I love how you said that they're MFEO in a narcissistic way. They just... fit. Kind of the way Nick and Jessica. *hides*

He just kind of wheedled it away from her, but only to stomp it out. What a guy!

Well. Yeah. Does *she* let him smoke? Probably! Humph.

}:)

PS: *squees some more about the icon*

Date: March 10th, 2004 12:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com
Thanks! Isn't that just the face though? Oh, Lance.

Well, for what it's worth, they didn't look broken up, just very pretty and mellow together.

Nick smokes?

Date: March 10th, 2004 03:16 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] madame-d.livejournal.com
Nick smokes?

You know, I could've sworn that he does and that I have a picture to prove it, but I can't find the picture, so now I'm not even sure whether it's real or just hallucinations. Sorry. :x

}:)

Date: March 10th, 2004 02:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] krabbypatty.livejournal.com
Wow! Your night sounded like so much fun.

Did you know every song off Moby's Play has been used in a commercial?
Didn't Moby make it so all of the songs off Play could be used commercially? I remember reading that he did that on purpose.

I could live a thousand lives and never see Dave Navarro wearing thigh-high white vinyl boots, matching miniskirt and nothing else and be a happy woman/man/vegetable/mineral.
Eh!? Sounds odd(ly horrible).

JC! Too bad he never sat down.

Nick&Paris! My het!otp. hee. Jules, I have a question for you. Would you mind if I posted your paragraph about Nick/Paris in my journal? With credit and a link to this post, of course. I post Nick/Paris stuff (a lot) and would love to share that bit. :P

Date: March 10th, 2004 04:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com
It really was. Getting hit on by Paul Oakenfold! Sitting with celebs and schmoozing with producers! Lots of fun.

I didn't actually know that about Play. I own a copy, but don't really know much Moby or anything about him beyond that.

Dave changed outfits for the very end of the show for no real reason. *shrug* But yeah, nipple piercings do nothing for me, and neither do men in thigh-high white vinyl, so I just mostly averted my eyes.

The bum! Never came to his seat. *tsk* But he looked pretty when it counted, so all in all, not a bad take.

Not at all! Feel free to post away. They really were rather sweet, and looked good together in a sort of they-could-be-brother-and-sister-if-they-weren't-dating way. And what Nick did with the cigarette really was cute.

Date: March 10th, 2004 05:30 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] krabbypatty.livejournal.com
neither do men in thigh-high white vinyl
Yeah, not a visual I need, nor one you needed to see.

Thank you! Nick&Paris are rather sweet. :P

Date: March 10th, 2004 02:55 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fucking-jc.livejournal.com
How fun! That sounds like something I would love to go to ;)

Sorry it was so cold though! I always freeze at award shows and stuff, lol.

Date: March 10th, 2004 04:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com
It was grand. Dance music rocks, and it's cool to see some of the people behind the music, which you don't normally get to do in this genre.

I had a jacket in the car! But when I got out, it was still stifling hot, so I figured I was better off not looking ridiculous toting it around the whole night. *shakes head*

Date: March 10th, 2004 08:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tallories.livejournal.com
That sounds like a great night! I'm assuming it was broadcast...?

By the way - who is Paul Oakenfold? The name sounds mildly familiar but I can't place him.

Date: March 11th, 2004 09:04 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gjstruthseeker.livejournal.com
It was loads of fun - it's my kind of music, plus my kind of fans, so everyone had a good time.

The Board 'O Doom says it will be broadcast in May on Pay-Per-View, which makes it even more pointless that he performed Some Girls as there will be a new single by then. *sigh*

Paul Oakenfold is a very famous DJ, especially known for his remixes. I practically built a shrine to him in high school, right next to the one for Fatboy Slim. So, yes, a bit surreal.

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