
My Seattle
By Mardi Clark
Going out on the town in a Scintillatingly Entertaining And Terrifically
Tranny Loving Environment--otherwise known by it's acronym, SEATTLE,
is likely to be nothing short of exhausting...I mean, hey, you'll
be lucky to get home before dawn and you won't have any idea how
tired you are until you try and get up the next (same?)
day! You see, not only does time fly when you're having this
much fun, but the nights are nothing if not short. So make every
minute count! And remember...this isn't LA or NYC but that only
means places are accessible and you can actually drive your own
car AND even park it...within 5" heel distance from the front
door no less! I do not lie!
Let's get started....at Pioneer Square, the bawdy district famous
from the wild times of the Klondike Gold rush in '97! Still home
to saloons and dancehalls of every description, now gone are the
haunts of Seattle's turn-of-the-century elite (mayor, judges,
police chiefs) --the brothels! We're after music and dancing
so after dropping the van in a $5.00 lot we go to the Old Timer's
Cafe (620 First Av.) and buy the best deal in town, the Combined
Cover...For $7 /pp before 9 p.m. or $8/pp after 9, this gets you
into about a dozen different clubs all within a six-block area,
featuring every taste in live music from zydeco to jazz to alt
rock and all between.
Mardi, Kerstin, a friend & Wendy
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Ok, Ok, six blocks you say?? In
heels?!? Well, ok. Hold on --we'll get to those places
in a bit. Variety is the spice (Pioneer Square is 90% het)
and here in Pioneer Square is the place to try out your "Transsexual
Drag", "mall wear", "passing gear" you
know! We're talking jeans, sleeveless T's and sandles..the kind
without heels, you know the ones you can actually feel comfy with.
We left the "other" stuff in the van for later. See,
there are "Out-Of-Towners" here (!!), the waterfront
(read Tourist Central) is only a couple of blocks away. People
from places called Puyallup and Tillicum and Sioux Falls and Fargo...small
town folk not exactly conversant with stuff like "latex"
and "spandex" especially worn as outer garments!! No
matter tho' 'cause we are here for the tunes. Some of the places
are just converted (barely ) saloons like the Old Timer, usually
featuring folk rock and stuff like zydeco and rock-a-billy and
with just enough room for the band and maybe a couple or three
to dance...; the Central (207 First Av) often with a blues or
reggae group; or just around the corner, the Bohemian Cafe (111
Yesler Way) often featuring some instrumental music of various
persuasions...then there are the big clubs...Colorbox (113 First
Av), an alternative rock venue ; the New Orleans (114 First Av),
a roomy jazz place, and the Fenix and Fenix Underground, (315
and 321 Second Av)various pop and rock with sizable dancefloors;
and several more....they're all on the nifty little map we got
with all the groups listed and stuff when we got our tickets!
Ok, so we've done Pioneer Square...its about 11:30 and now we're
get ready for some "different" fun.....head for the
van and do the supergirl routine....shake out the ponytails, pull
off the jeans (they won't let denim through the door where we're
going)...dump the tennies...and wriggle into some real
drag....yep, our next stop is right across from our parking lot,
the Catwalk Club (Second Av & South Washington St.), dancehall
continuously since 1887 or so, and one wild and crazy place which
just starts to get going at midnite!! This is the place where
you can actually wear the stuff you thought you could NEVER walk
out of the house in...and whatever that is, I guarantee
it will be surpassed by someone else in this cavernous place---try
girls in thongs bottoms and bodypaint...period! It's two-clubs
in one and peopled by the denizens of the night! So go nuts!
Since we take our own advice, we glide fabulously down the stairs
and totally blow away the doorman--- so he lets us in free..(yes
this happens!) The fiver goes back into the purse and we enter
where every nite is a costume party set to the latest industrial/gothic/techno
sounds played over an outstanding sound system in two venues..one
a smaller lounge setting and the other a cavernous space dominated
by a multi-level dance floor. Let's take a look around....the
crowd is a thorough mix; het, gay, and take-a-guess....S&M
aficionados abound....leather, metal, vinyl, latex, black anything
is the dresscode here....sterling jewelry and piercings in places
you'd never....well, you get the idea. Suffice it to say you'll
never get this quality of people watching at the mall! And, of
course, WE are the alternative of the alternative don't forget!
Love it!
Ok, so even tho' the Catwalk is open 'till three, we have to
keep moving, this is a crawl after all! Time to leave Pioneer
Square (yep, all this in a six block area!) and drive up the Ave
to The Showbox (1426 First Av.) for the "Electrolush"
show. This place hops!! The biggest club in town, I think,
it is also a two-venue place...one gym-sized multi-level club
and dance floor and another smaller multi-level lounge with four
bars and lots of tables and booths. Expect a crowd of several
hundred, a mix as before..AND expect NOT to pay the $7 cover charge!!
We are wanted people (remember "Tranny Loving"?)
It's "Right this way, Ladies"-- with a smile, as we
prance through the front doors and up the stairs towards the coatcheck.
The bass beat from the main floor reverberates in our chests
as we push through the crowd of adorable guys and girls..the latter
attired in the height of club couture in such as white vinyl minidresses
and go-go boots to match! Dress to impress! I told you this was
gonna be fun! We make a round of the club...checking out and
being checked out...one guy asks if we are paid to be there, says
he loves the "diversity", a couple of twenty-something
girls stop to yell compliments--"Oh, you all look so fabulous!"
and a conversation starts about the places to go after hours and
what sort of music the DJ is playing (who are often brought over
from Europe for guest appearances). Another guy stops to tell
us about the experiences he had with "us" in Denmark,
another (without his contacts maybe) comments "Gee, you're
really tall for a girl!" and goes bug-eyed and slack-jawed
when he gets a response, sotto basso, back! Head for the dance
floor and its not long before that wig is starting to resemble
a wet mop!....time to head out into the cool nite and our next
stop, The Vogue (2018 First Av)
The Vogue is a much smaller place, but has its mark in history
as the birthplace of grunge and Nirvana...a genre mostly gone
now, its been replaced with the Goth scene and house/industrial/techno
music with a beat like a heart and less melody than more in most
cases. Well, to be fair, that comment goes more for industrial
than goth which is quite pleasantly "haunting" I guess
you could describe it. It "flows", and to dance to
it is different as well, with liquidy, slow movements, quite graceful
really, almost dreamlike in quality. But that's mostly on Wednesday
and Sunday nites here--- on Saturday its 80's Nu Wave so the dance
floor is packed. After a dance and a drink we vote to move on
up to the city's "alternative" district, Capitol Hill.
As if we haven't been alternative all nite already!!
Dierdre & Diana
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By now its about 3:00 a.m.---last call has come and gone but
we're a long ways from finished! Driving over I-5 up Pike Street
we pull over and park just before we hit Broadway. We're bound
for Neighbours (1509 Broadway) the city's largest predominately
gay danceclub. This place is open 'till 4 a.m. Friday and Saturdays
so we're in luck...tho' since we aren't exactly a novelty in a
place where they have three drag nites a week (Tues. through Thurs.
nites)---- we have to pony up the $5 cover. This is he place to
come for latenite dancing and that's just what we're after.....grab
a table and rotate onto the floor--the music's great, the crowd
hoppin' and good vibes all around! Here's where we run into a
T-chaser or two...you can spot 'em a mile away, these guys---
They circle around like wolves, casting "surreptitious"
glances our way, then sidle over and start sounding allot like
the guys in the "chat rooms" on AOL or something!!
But really, it just means they like how we look and we've always
found them absolutely harmless as long as you don't go for a ride
with them--unless you're into that of course! Hey, different strokes
for different folks, huh?
So the lights go up and dancing is over...'till tonight that
is!...But Sunday's in Seattle is another story...Now it's
time for BREAKFAST!! And we have just the all-nite diner, The
Hurricane (on 7th by the Space Needle), formerly known as the
Doghouse, its like Denny's on acid! A cafe right out of the 50's,
the service is young and pierced, the tunes are NOT elevator and
the food is AOK..the omelets start out at four egg and go to 24!!
--- which is free if you can finish it--as if! Try a salad and
a cup of scratch-made soup and some coffee for the road home.....It's
a great place to deconstruct the night and plan for the next
outing....and who knows who will stop by the table and ask to
sit down? Maybe a cute twenty-something who just happens to be
a bit bored and wants us to lighten up his nite with some sparkling
conversation? Or maybe a couple of chatty goth-girls in the next
booth who have the latest on the newest of the little clubs which
come and go within a month? Who knows? That's the adventure!
Well, tonite was just a sample..there's lots more; The Oz, Kid
Mohair's, R-Place, The Easy, restaurants by the dozen, shopping,
taverns...geez, who has time to work and sleep anyway? The thing
we take for granted is the acceptance we get everywhere in this
"S-E-A-T-T-L-E"---- really notice the enthusiasm from
a lot of the people and the clubs and other establishments---and
a total lack of jerks---something which is a pleasure to
get used to. Daytime or nighttime, downtown or on the "hill",
Seattle is variety and fun in a basically safe environment. Still,
it is a big-city and there is nothing like going out with
a friend, for fun and for safety. So---see you out there and
be sure and stop by our table and say "hi!", 'k? See
ya!
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