The Disco Diva And The Blogger

Left: Rainbow Festival, 2010!


Every year, I tell myself that I'm going to drop in on Labor Day's Rainbow Festival at 20th & K Streets, and every year something else comes up. This year, I decided to go ahead!

For me, the main attraction was disco diva Caroline Lund's performance. I posted her "Move Your Body" video on this blog just a few days ago. What could be better than seeing an artist on their way up in the world of dance music?

So, at about 4:30 p.m., I paid my $10 entrance fee, and there I was, looking at the various booths near 20th & K Streets!

I started looking at merchandise for sale at one table. Just then, I was caught in a crossfire: two women, on either side of me, broke out water pistols shaped like phalluses and started firing at each other with abandon.

Well, that doesn't happen every day!


Left: Green Cross. Funny!


Wandering along, I saw Keith's J Street Wellness booth, and I inquired about medical marijuana (I've got that prospect of surgery on my foot to look forward to, so I might as well cover all the bases ahead of time). Keith started explaining the policy regarding doctors' prescriptions, but then got distracted by the approach of several women (me no think he's gay).

I bought a bottle of water and got a free hot-pink shopping bag.


Left: Some of the dancers from Face's in-house Sunday-evening performance revue, "Dragalicious", came into the street to perform.


Left: The MC.


Waiting for Caroline Lund to take the Main Stage in the intersection of 20th & K Streets, I saw two women behind the stage dressed in exotic performance clothing. The white woman was clearly warming up for a performance; the black woman was sitting down and texting. Was that Caroline Lund? I didn't know: I'm a newbie fan (one week elapsed, so far) and I'm not sure what she really looks like in person.




Left: Cool Beans.


A lesbian-themed band called something like "Cool Beans" took the Main Stage. So, I was rockin' out with the lesbians. Good band. One of the singers was wearing a "Beaver Fever" T-Shirt. Lots of tattoos.

Shortly after 5 p.m., after an interlude featuring 'Andy' and dancers, it was time for the main show! But instead of Caroline Lund, the first woman I had noticed came on stage. Her name was "Kelsey" and she sang and danced. She seemed to be at ease, pleasant and affable. I caught her first number on my fancy video camera.

Then it was time for Caroline Lund (the second woman I had noticed). Excellent show, with dancers! The Modesto native sang "Move Your Body," plus other songs, with several exotic backup dancers (apparently from Sacramento).

At one point, I had trouble. Someone wanted to wheel a folding table across the front of the stage. Not wanting to stop filming or take my eye off the stage, I took a step backwards without looking, totally unaware that someone had parked a baby stroller directly behind me. I tripped and flailed, and flailed, and flailed, and certainly took everyone's focus off the stage for several seconds as I fought, fought, fought for balance. I didn't fall, but it was a very close thing!

A nice show. Nevertheless, I was a little disappointed by what I thought was the fairly-small size of the crowds. Since this is my first time here, I don't know if it's usually small, or not. The economy? Too many entertainment alternatives? Everyone is packed into Badlands getting smashed on a hot afternoon? Quien sabe?

Afterwards, I wanted to say a few words of thanks to Caroline Lund. Just then, "Kelsey" came over.

I couldn't resist complimenting "Kelsey" on her fantastic eyelashes. Ever since I got those lovely electric-blue false eyelashes for 2008's 'La Cage aux Folles' at DMTC, I've been in love with long eyelashes, and Kelsey's pink-and-black eyelashes were the longest and lushest I had seen since 2008. She got excited: a fan!

I explained that I had been filming the performances. She said, "Ooooh, how do they look?" I answered that I didn't know: I had only just filmed them. I explained that I had caught only her first number on video. She replied:

Oh that's too bad! I was hoping you had caught the second number. That's the one we've been pushing; you know, to move me on up! Besides, I think my vocals were a bit weak on the first number, etc., etc.

As she spoke, a wave of deja vu hit me; a tsunami of deja vu, actually. It took me a few seconds to analyze the feeling. "Kelsey" the disco diva sounded exactly like the musical theater divas we have at DMTC, or, for that matter, over at Runaway Stage Productions (RSP), or Civic Theatre West!

Later, I learned on the Internet that "Kelsey Barney", who lives in Los Angeles now, came directly out of the Bakersfield community musical-theater scene. So, indeed, she is directly-comparable to some of our Sacramento musical-theater divas. She reminded me a bit of Amber Jean Moore, except more amiable, and not as scary/fierce as Amber can get, when she's busy murdering a jealous lover, or whatever she sings about when she's on stage over there at RSP.


The Fabulous Kelsey Barney as ROXY!


Arguing With Myself MySpace Video

So we talked about Kelsey's performance. I told her not to worry about the vocals: festivals aren't the best showcase for vocals anyway - you get whatever you get. I told her that her face was her best asset: strikingly large eyes; large mouth - makes for a memorable performance! (I should have mentioned the eyelashes again). She filed away that information for future reference.

She started talking about her record company's gay-friendly approach, sending her up to this Gay Pride event, and her own gay-friendly manner, and I'm wondering why she's even bringing up gay-friendly anything in conversation, and suddenly it occurred to me she had jumped to the conclusion that I was gay.

So, a question: Just because I spend all my free time doing musical theater, and have loved gay-oriented House and Disco music for decades, and paid $10 to attend a gay festival, and am carrying a hot-pink shopping bag; is that enough information to jump to the conclusion that I'm gay?

On second thought, don't answer that question....

So skipping past the matter of sexual orientation, we talked about matters I couldn't quite follow. She was talking about Palm Springs, but I was looking at her eyelashes, and so all I recall is that there are interesting people doing interesting things in Palm Springs.

I promised I would clear any video footage I took past her first before posting....

Oh, and yes, Caroline Lund briefly shook my hand and said 'thanks for coming!"