1/18/05
Paul and I made our initial return to the two dance clubs in Arizona we've been frequenting the week after we arrived from Toronto. (See previous entry for the trip details.) We knew that "Flux" on Saturdays was still a regular event since plugs for it were sprinkled throughout the KNRJ Energy Arizona [10/08: no longer this genre] commercial breaks. To be sure that Heart-Five on Congress in Tucson still played house music on Wednesdays - or even still existed, I checked its website and found it updated and reassuring. So we were "on" for both nights - and ready to go.
On Wednesday 1/12/05 about 10:00pm, after eating and completing some short errands in Casa Grande, we "zipped" down I-10 to Tucson and were at Heart-Five 45 minutes later. We'd had brief conversations (not easy over the sound level) with DJ "Dr.Who" (Julio, the "J" pronounced in Spanish, like an "H") a couple times when we'd been there before. He made it a point to tell us the last time we were there, during our October stay, how much he and the other DJ appreciated us coming and dancing on Wednesdays. (The clientele on that night are almost entirely solely sitters and drinkers; Julio explained that the club hadn't done any flyer ads for Wednesdays.) So when we left that night we assured him that we'd be back in January since the following months were to be spent in Toronto.
We'd just entered the door of Heart-Five and noted the relocation of the DJ booth, taken off our jackets, depositing them along the back wall of one of the small stages, when Julio came up to us with a handshake for Paul and warm greeting,"Great to see you guys! We missed you." His handshake for me was accompanied with a hug and a question as to whether I like the "new look", which I assured him I did.
Our dancing was only moderately energetic the last 30 to 40 minutes of the 2 hours we were there; a third and different DJ had spinning "duties" during that time and his selections were more "ethereal". But for the first dance exercise after almost two weeks, it was a good workout.
Before we left home on Wednesday evening, I sent an email off to the Program Director of KNRJ, Energy Arizona, that plays the live "Flux" at Sky Lounge in Phoenix on Saturdays. He and I had had numerous pleasant exchanges in the station's forum [no longer good genre] as well as by private email. He'd arranged guestlist passes for us a couple times in the past and I took this opportunity to let him know we were back for the winter and would he do the same again. An enthusiastic welcoming response was received less than 1/2 hour later. Sure, he'd put us on the guest list. In a thanks reply I urged him to show himself since we'd never actually met in person. In addition I let him know that I looked different than my forum avatar, a picture about 2 years old, so he might have to search for me.
While the young woman and man collecting the cover charge at the Sport City Grill 132 E. Washington which houses the Sky Lounge upstairs were strangers to us, our names were on the guestlist. The fellow asked me who we were friends of. When I told him MikeO, he shook his head in bewilderment saying he knew Rod Carillo and Pistol Pete (2 DJs). My reply as he fixed the paper bracelet on my wrist (those clubs in Toronto who "tag" clientele do so with fluorescent stamps - happy faces typically) was that Mike was their boss.
With Paul properly tagged also, up the stairs we went, where there were a fair number of people though mostly at the bar and the rest on the balcony. The music was good but no one was on the dance floor. Sure it was only 10:30 but in my opinion that's no reason not to make dancing use of good music ;>) But it wasn't long before a few other people joined in while the onlookers increased in numbers.
I was aware of a young lady taking our picture a few times. She then came over and introduced herself, Kim from KNRJ, saying that Mike told her we'd be there and would we like station T-shirts. Of course, to add to our collection. When she returned with them Paul gave her our business card with thanks from both of us; skimming the card she thanked us with an enthusiastic "great!" We hope that she's taken a visit to our website. She knows that we're not the typical dance clubber - she took numerous photos of the crowd, some I know Paul and I were also part of. So far she only has photos up to 1/9 on the station website [no longer]. But I expect she'll get them updated soon.
We'd probably been dancing about 45 minutes when we signaled each other that a drink of water was a good idea. The bartender took our request for 2 large glasses of ice water in stride and noted that it had been many weeks since he'd seen us. Where had we been? I explained briefly over the loud music that we spend about half our time in Toronto since Paul is Canadian but that we were here in Arizona till mid-April. It was nice to be remembered; and then we also always tip the bartenders for the water.
Before even turning around with our drinks to find them a "home" and return to the dance floor, there was a tap on my shoulder. A nice looking young man introduced himself as Mike - actually he was younger than I expected. But maybe he's just one of those lucky people with young-looking genes, or even better, maybe he takes good care of himself. Anyway he thanked me for my strong support of the station (reference to my online text and value for value payment for the streaming when in Toronto) and verified that we'd had no problems getting in at the door. I assured him all had gone well but, with a chuckle, that his name wasn't known at the door. MikeO does his own DJ spot for KNRJ from 3 to 7 pm but maybe the fellow downstairs didn't listen except when working on "Flux" nights at Sport City Grill. Dance clubs are for dancing in our opinion, and this Mike knew from items I'd written, so Paul and I went back to the dance floor. I expect to have more exchanges with MikeO at the station's forum - I learned since then a bit more of his radio station history in making Energy Arizona's sound outstanding. He's making it possible for energy dance music fans from all over the world to hear terrific current output as well as older favorites. And Paul and I wish only that we were able to hear the station while in our house in Arizona... ah, maybe we'll still find a way in the future.
We took our water (and my jacket with the 2 T-shirts rolled into the sleeves) downstairs to partake of the music there. That music often is a bit more "housey" when the upstairs goes "trancey", so by doing both we keep our energy level up. We hadn't been dancing but a few minutes in the cozier atmosphere when a fellow I recognized from previous visits came up to us and said how nice it was to see us back. Again a short explanation and introductions all around - his name was Joey (sorry to say I missed his last name, but I'll get another time). He wanted to take our picture which I think he said was for his website - sure and Paul gave him a card for ours. I'm looking forward to seeing those photos - if they're good I'll add them to our website. ;>)
The group of people downstairs, and those that actually dance upstairs, are fairly active. The music is appreciated for the dancing it promotes. It's really good to see. Obvious homosexuals - mostly male - are a significant portion of the clientele but I've never witnessed any unwelcomed approaches. While the male stage dancers were not present like in October and during the summer, the clientele who know each other are moderately demonstrative with each other. For those who would find this type of activity undesirable to witness, I recommend that they just listen to the music via radio or online streaming. However if they do absent themselves from "Flux" when they are in the Phoenix area, they will miss a really great energetic dancing opportunity.
So it was great to be back dancing in Arizona - both at Heart-Five and "Flux". And we look forward to the remaining of our winter stay energy dancing even though we have to drive a minimum of 40 minutes each way instead of the 10 minutes when in Toronto. Good dance music is worth the drive for a location to actually get out and *move*!!
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