Dallas, home to Good Christian Bitches of all stripes, commonly worships at the altar of good music, good drink and good times. With that in mind last Saturday evening, I was on the decidedly Dionysian path to seek out sacred moments in each of those categories, and a reason to wear my new Easter dress.
The Relatives at The Kessler were an obvious place to start. Bobby Patterson, donning his finest holiday sequins, set the stage with his soul-stirring R&B before The Relatives lived up to every ounce of hype you've heard. We didn't officially say a prayer together, but I snuck up to the front of the stage just as Reverend Gean West asked us to " ... grab hands with someone next to you, look in each other's eyes and have a dance." So I did, drunk of whiskey and funk. I grabbed the stranger's hand next to me and, as he twirled me, he sang along to every word. Not a prayer officially, but certainly something close.
The evening of gospel had already lent the night a theme, and the Easter party going on at a loft near Downtown was an obvious addition to the holiday agenda. The crowd was scattered with the usual music misfits, some beautiful hipster model types, and the teenage college kids who always sniff out these parties first.
Track Meet is a Dallas DJ collective that describes itself as the most "... reclusive, seclusive and sexclusive #based DJ crew, whose only goal is to evoke 1993-1997 monads, using 2093-2097 methodology." Track Meet had already won my affection during 35 Denton. I know we have been talking about that "Slimerave" a lot, but it's not a media frenzy, they just threw a really dope, well executed party and not everyone does.
The sum of their parts on Saturday night included DJs Dubbel Dutch, Ynfynyt Scroll, Shooknite, Matte Blaque and Oleg Do It, and their niche future-'90s aesthetic did not disappoint. Bass-heavy electro mixes with dashes of 2 Live Crew and Bone Thugs-N-Harmony kept bodies on the dance floor next to a huge glowing cross under black lights. As the night moved from party to after-party, the music got louder, the dance floor sweatier, the evening blurrier.
Oh, Dallas, you and your appealing dichotomies. This place where an almost undiscovered legendary West Dallas gospel group can prime you for an out-all-night sacrilegious Easter rave, where you can dance with so many strangers at the command of either a preacher or a DJ.
