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In the pre-Christian era, when pagans
ruled the world, May Day was the
festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of
flowers. Is it any wonder, then, that
the gays love to dance around a maypole
on May Day - which was precisely the
scene for the Saint-At-Large's May Day
party at Amnesia in New York's Chelsea.
Bimbo Jones was in the house for his
stateside debut, and he worked the
boards with as much jubilation as a
bumblebee amidst a bounty of spring
blossoms. For those who don't know,
Bimbo Jones is the UK dance music trio
consisting of production team Lee Dagger
and Marc JB (aka Dead Stereo & Element),
with singer/songwriter Katherine Ellis -
but for May Day, it was all about Lee
Dagger whose contagious ebullience from
atop Amnesia's mezzanine kept a floor of
May Day sunflowers beaming and bursting
with spring fever.
For years, May Day was celebrated as the
end of winter in the northern hemisphere
with maypoles, may baskets, and the
crowning of the Queen of the May. And
while there were many queens dancing
around several maypoles and sashaying
along the club's multiple catwalks, the
crown belonged to Saint-at-Large head,
Steve Pevner who, with Mike Peyton and
wunderkind Adam Koch, provided the
perfect excuse for New York gays to
waltz with the flowers.
Amnesia (once known as Sol) is a
beautiful three-level club with skywalks
and staircases - and scenic designer
Adam Koch turned the space into a
neon-lit, bedizened and beribboned
conservatory, with a gigantic disco
flower ball bursting with hallucinogenic
blossoms. Pole dancers worked the
maypoles like Jack (and Jane) on the
Beanstalk while aerial artists swung
through the air like the Girl in the
Velvet Swing.
The upstairs was industry-heavy with
radiant nightlife night bloomers like
Tony Moran, Brett Henrichsen, Corey
Craig, Patti Razetto, Guy Smith, as well
as Freemasons, who were sharing the bill
with Bimbo - while downstairs, the floor
was packed with a gorgeous bouquet of
hothouse flowers, including "Ricky"
Michael Perez, Alex and Ryan, Christian,
Nicky, Alan and Joey, Steve W., Adam and
Richard, and a bevy of sweet boys as
pretty as cherry blossoms.
Midway through the night, word ran
through the crowd that a tyrant had died
halfway around the world - and as remote
as that world seemed from this maypole
mayhem, there was also, thereafter, a
kind of increased merriment. A kind of
"Ding Dong, the Wicked Witch is Dead"
frivolity swept through the house and
the energy kicked up a notch.
Dagger's infectious mixes are perhaps
best described as fist-pumping, happy,
hard-driving vocals. His remix of Gaga's
"Born This Way" has topped the charts -
and his enthusiasm during this party was
palpable and contagious. Bimbo was a
perfect complement to Freemasons,
another duo whom Saint-at-Large
introduced to the States, whose
energized remixes of Beyonce, Kelly,
Rihanna, and Kelis kept the boys as
happy as strippers on a stage.
Say hello to summer, that's what this
May Day was all about - and if this
party was any indication, the summer of
2011 is going to be loaded with festive
fun.
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