Puppet with Stormy at the Dj booth back in the day…Aren’t they adorable?Just the day before yesterday I got confirmation on the sad sad news. It has taken me awhile to actually sit down and write this through the tears. Yes kiddies, Portland’s longest running queer party for the piratecore is ending as the summer fades into fall…
I was actually there that first fateful day in April of 2004 and though co-founder J-Ho still only really half remembers me over 3 years later I distinctly remember our first conversation as I ponied up my 3 bills (I could get a whole pitcher to myself and still have 3 bucks from my 10 left over. Yes!) I asked if it would be every week. Yep. Every single week? Not just once a month or once every 2 weeks if there’s a full moon? Nope, every week. And my love affair with a dance party in a tiny bar in NoPo began.
Puppet (another co-founder, along with Stormy) assures me that it is not due to any sort of strife and the new Plan B is sad to see them go as well…though I’m sure it can hardly match my own sense of loss. The party’s trio of founders just have “…personal lives are calling [them] elsewhere…”
Booty was always bumpin’ in that claustrophobic little dance floor at Porky’s. So worth it though.Puppet mentions working full-time and while I fully understand her need for a “steady-income train” I do hope she continues to put on events. This town needs her. If all she had was some music, cheap beer and a backyard I’d still lay down some bucks to dance it out to her tunes. She mentioned an upcoming gig on Sept 21st with Pony Pants, outta Philly, which I’ll surely remind you about, but it looks like her social calendar doesn’t have too many nights staked out just yet.
Nevertheless there are 7 bootylicious nights left in which to both revel and weep, including tonight. Even through my old age I will certainly try to make it to most and I’m sure I’ll see our hosts in that same strange flux of emotions. In Puppets own words:
It’s hard to write this email without tearing up. We have 7 more Booty parties to throw and it gets harder not to cry with each and every one. We love each other and our loyal pirateers very, very much. The transition will be difficult no doubt.
But through these trying times we must be strong and not let our sadness get in the way of our fun. We can hope for new queer nights, perhaps bringing the party back up north. And if nothing else attendance is practically mandatory at the goodbye bash Sept 27th. I think Puppet’s last words sum it up nicely.
You may want to take that Friday off.
