Category Archives: Music

John, They’re only Dancing – Marines Shake It! (Hot & Silly Video)

These two are just too cute. Barely more than kids, as soldiers usually are, they are caught in a complicated history, their own personal stories intertwined with that of their country at war. Vets, and children of vets, understand how one can despise war and still honor warriors. Many of us still carry the physical and emotional effects of conflicts long past. “It’s complicated” – as they say on Facebook. War is hell, but it is also boredom. In these media days, that’s easily taken care of with a camera and a YouTube account. The Internet is awash with interesting videos made by soldiers with time on their hands. These two mess around to Soulja Boy’s Donk. For a great Lady Gaga Telephone re-do, click here. For an interesting musical political commentary, based on a lyrical re-working of the Beach Boys’ classic Kokomo, click here.

Backstage with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus

…tonight at our “Hootenanny” Western-themed show (country and Americana). Catch us Saturday at 2pm or 8pm. Details here. Dancing gay cowboys, country drag, “Home On The Range” like you’ve never heard it, and much more!
-AidanAbroad

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A Sustainable Queer Planet? 14th Annual National Queer Arts Fest opens in SF

Philip Huang performs June 9 & 10 at Eros

We have made it this far. What next? How can we keep what we have created and protect it for the generations coming up? The theme of this year’s National Queer Arts Festival is A Sustainable Queer Planet. Presented by The Queer Cultural Center, the festival includes 22 venues and runs for a month. An array of performers, poets, writers, visual artists, musicians, comedians and dancers work through diverse notions of sustainability. Organizations, collaborations, friendships, political movements, publications, networks, connectivity, intentional communities, Queer families, and various ecological and economic interventions are all well represented in this month-long festival. High Holy Homo Days are upon us!

Watch this space for notices and commentaries on select individual programs. Philip Huang, pictured above, performs in Formerly Known As: Performances by Male and Trans Sex Workers. This two-day program, hosted by Kirk Read, takes place at The Center for Sex and Culture, and features a different line-up each night. It includes writers, performance artists, comedians and a slideshow of visual work. For a complete listing of festival offerings, visit The Queer Cultural Center’s site here.

The Revolution will not be Televised: RIP Gil Scott-Heron

Influential musician and poet Gil Scott-Heron died today at the age of 62. Widely regarded as a forerunner of rap, hip-hop and related genres, he was perhaps best known for his 1971 spoken word piece The Revolution will not be Televised: “The revolution will not go better with Coke. The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath. The revolution will put you in the driver’s seat. The revolution will not be televised…the Revolution will be Live.” It has been covered and sampled by KRS-One, Elvis Costello and Justin Bond, among others.

Brand New Arty Queer Club Mondays in SF – Derelick’D at The Deco

New arty queer drag  club by new kids in town. Derelick’D. Hosted by Filétia Mignon. Check out the fresh meat! Queer  vids and music all night by VJ Objet Numerik/Rik Lee. Here’s his mash-up of Aphex Twin’s DMX Krew Remix – You Can’t Hide Your Love. Deco Lounge 510 Larkin St. San Francisco. Ginger Snap at the bar. Starting around 9:30 every Monday night.

Ding Dong! There’s always another Wicked Witch in the Wings…

Remember the movie? The death of the Wicked Witch did nothing to protect Dorothy and her friends from the Flying Monkeys. Something to keep in mind. Meet the new witch; same as the old witch. Here is a fan video of the Klaus Nomi version of Ding Dong (The Witch is Dead). And here is an audio version from Ella Fitzgerald.

The Munchkin and the Giants: Keenan Cahill meets The Beard

Big balls on this little man and a bigger beard on his buddy. 16 year old YouTube star Keenan Cahill hams it up Dynamite lip-synch style with the infamous Giants pitcher Brian Wilson and cute fielder Cody Ross. And a furry. Bizarre! Cahill lives bravely with Maroteaux–Lamy syndrome, a condition that severely stunts his growth. Wilson lives bravely with the adulation and derision of millions. For a great clip of him with his leathery pal The Machine, click here. Wilson and Ross will be hosting “Dynamite: A Fundraiser for Keenan Cahill” during the game against the Florida Marlins on May 25. Information here.

The Beast in Me…

…is caged by frail and fragile bonds. Nick Lowe’s quiet, intense, acoustic analysis of his own shadow. Not gay per se, but it does speak to Leather aesthetics and spirituality. We should all be so well-acquainted with our own beasts. Another quiet intense man, Johnny Cash “The Man in Black” covered it here.  Careful of the quiet ones. And keep the restraints handy.

Get my Money Back! New from Cazwell.

Lots of cute half-naked boys dancing in cages, eating bananas and wearing fuzzy monkey hipster hats. Is that fetish wear? Hard to tell. Watch out for the rapidly expanding pocket monkeys. Ouch! The latest by gay dance phenom Cazwell and his dancers. More of his tasty flesh and flash here.

New Orleans sound: Neville Bros play “Iko Iko” live medley at Jazzfest

This kind of second line rhythm comes out of the New Orleans tradition of the jazz funeral. On the way to the cemetery, the bands play dirges, slow and solemn. But after the internment, on the way out, after they have “cut the body loose” the music abruptly changes as does the mood of the mourners. It becomes raucous and festive, with a second line of dancers following the band as the crowd shifts into a full-on celebration of the life of the departed.

Iko Iko (Jockamo) was written in 1953 by James “Sugar Boy” Crawford. It describes a confrontation between two groups of Mardi Gras Indians. It has been performed, covered and recorded by dozens of artists and has become a NOLA standard. Here the Neville Bros. perform a live medley at the New Orleans Jazzfest 2010. Oh…Cyril is the super-hot one.