Thursday: BlackLight at DC9
If you like great music and dancing, I expect to see you at DC9 tomorrow night for BlackLight. According to the dance night's MySpace page, "BlackLight is a tribute to black musicians and the artists influenced by them." The DJ line-up for tomorrow includes queer DJ (and TNG commentor) natty Boom of Be: XX and Girls Rock! DC, along with DJ Stereo Faith of Sorted and Feedback. Expect to hear bands with black leading members earlier in the evening, followed by bands who were influenced by black music. Keep in mind that the music will start out slow to set the mood, but the DJs will bring up the beat as more people hit the dance floor. Tomorrow marks the third BlackLight, and it should be a blast -- check out photos from previous events for proof. Go to DC9 tomorrow night to reflect on the work of many black artists, support natty Boom, and, of course, dance.
Details: Thursday, September 4, DC9, 1940 9th St. NW, 9:30 p.m., $5, 21+
7 comments:
doesn't pretty much every post-elvis pop musician fall under the "influenced by black music" umbrella? just sayin.
even Roxette?? just kiddin, but you have a point. maybe the night will be curated in such a way that the connections/influences are made more explicit?
yr darn right about that, adam. i had a similar concern when i first heard about the party earlier this year. i think, however, that addition is different than "stolen or co-opted from black musicians."
get ready for a lotta black in yr ear tonite.
Yeah, I see what you guys are saying. I just rewrite the press releases ...
here's what blacklight's tony had to say about tonite's theme:
The focus this time around is a better blend of new and old. With previous Blacklights, we explored Funk, Jazz, and Soul heavily. Although this was a great time, it wasn’t consistently danceable and we wanted to change things up for the next event. This time I want to move to more current music but still maintain a nod to the old influential favorites. Britpop is all the rave in DC, so we decided to play more dance and high-energy music that is coming from rock/pop artists.
The funny thing about all this to me is that someone always says, "Isn't all current music influenced by black music?" or some version of. It can be argued that this is true, and I was not aiming to do anything new or innovative when I began the night, but I did notice a lack of other black artists- save Michael Jackson and Prince- at 80s dance nights. The idea of Blacklight came from this and that a lot of people would only identify the phrase "black music" as hip-hop and rap.
My intention was not to create something political but now I see the conversations the idea for the night has started, which is a good thing. I wanted to have a dance party that celebrated diversity, was fun for our patrons, and also educational.
To me, Blacklight is no different than having a night featuring all latin artists, or gay artists, or any other particular group who may not get much recognition for their abilities and influence in music other than what they are normally stereotypically linked with. Not all gay musicians make dance music, nor does all latin music feature a fast beat.
Hopefully, this night will showcase the diversity within the group of black musicians played- past and present while being a great mix of people having fun.
I forgot to mention, there is also a ticket give away for the following night's concert: "Does It Offend You, Yeah?"
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