I've been trying to get a post about the Beats Antique show I saw a week ago written, well, for a week . . . It was humorous to pull up this site and have the first sentence of my last post hit me real quick: something about disappointment in not making better in the first month of the year on my intention this year to see more live music. This post serves the purpose of making good on that AND on writing about the dance and music I see!
Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to take in live music both Friday and Saturday nights: Beats Antique (that's where the '& Dance!' comes from) and Solid Gold. I made a last-minute (for me - i.e. Wednesday night :)) decision to go to the Beats Antique show. The conditions were right timing-wise, and I had a group to go with! I've found that so often, what holds me back from going out dancing or to a music show is not having a partner in crime. I have no bones about attending dance shows alone, and I'm realizing it's because those are far less social. It's much easier for me to go sit in a seat and watch something alone than it is to be in a more social scenario and not have someone to share it with.
I've found it pretty easy to go to Late Night (Thursday) swing alone, because there's a very clear convention about always switching up who you dance with. Given this, lots of folks drop in by their onesie :) In fact, this applies for me to most partner dancing scenarios. Kind of odd when I think about it: that I feel more comfortable attending partner dance events alone than I do events where the dancing is primarily done solo. Given there's no convention about switching partners, i.e. about having someone to dance with (or in this case around), it feels a lot less enjoyable to me to go to solo dance scenarios on my own. Given this, I'm trying to make better on inviting folks with me. It can just be hard to find the sweet spot in timing (particularly because it's different for everyone), and I DO find that a great majority of my 'dance friends' don't care to or prioritize going 'out dancing.'
Anyway, on to the shows. This was my second time seeing Beats Antique and it was pretty awesome!
While I DO feel that their tour-name promise of "The Grand Bizarre" was less than super-present (very little in the way of themed set, props and costume), the music was hype, Zoe Jake's dancing was on point as always, and it was a really enjoyable night of booty-bouncin'. I always really appreciate how crowds for shows like this tend to be really convivial and sweet with each other: we all just needed to dance it out, it seems, and that's what we did! No drama getting in or waiting in bathroom lines, kindness in moving through the space, etc.
It's kind of amazing how much sound (basically) two musicians can create! That said, I did feel a little disappointed in how many of the sounds seemed canned (all the horns, for example). Despite this, I TOTALLY appreciate how costly it would be to have people playing all the sounds they wish to incorporate, and that they are making it happen how they can. I also appreciated seeing another dancer: the woman who performed with Zoe Jakes was pretty great. The two have very differing styles (Jakes incorporating more back-bends and other such 'athletic' feats and the other dancer showing more commitment to fluid washes in the music), so it was interesting to see them perform together. I also found myself thinking "Damn. How does one get to the point in their transnational fusion dance training and connection that they are asked to perform with Zoe fuckin' Jakes?" Pretty cool.
Also pretty cool was the fact that Beats Antique had apparently held a contest to select from the Twin Cities area a group of local transnational fusion dancers to come perform before they did. Very sweet. The group that did perform (didn't quite catch their name, though I did catch that they are from Mankato) was pretty great! On the whole, I'm so glad I was able to get out for some booty-bouncin' and to watch Zoe Jake's dance. When she was dancing, I couldn't! I found myself only able to process watching her :)
On Saturday night, it was the Solid Gold band at the Prior Lake VFW, featuring two favorite things: my dad and a space that has held so much significance to me over the years. The VFW is where out 4H meetings were. Where aunt Lynette got married. Where there's been so many Solid Gold gigs. Steak fries. My bridal shower. Given the significance of the space in my life, it's always fun to visit.
The above video is NOT from the night I'm writing about, it's from another night my family was there listening to a different band. I'm really glad I captured my folks dancing, as it's moments like this that inspired my own path to dance :)
While I DID wish there had been more folks there to take in the music, the ones that were there were dancin', so that's good. My usually VFW dance partner (my momma) was out for the count temporarily given some medical stuff, so I had to dance by my onesie (again :)). It always turns out alright. Ended up with two dance partners: one whose dance skills were mediocre but kind-human skills were excellent, and the other inverse. Such is the way of social dancing :)
Glad to have heard so much music last weekend. This one isn't going to hold any live music, but it will hold dance (watching my cast and all the other dancers rock the Winona State University Dancescape 2019 show again!), and the following weekend holds A LOT of live music. University of Idaho JazzFest, here I come!
