The New Days of Disco

Joey B, Ianovich and I are flying out tomorrow afternoon for the annual pilgrimage to Buffalo NY for the world's Largest Disco.

My wonderful friend Anne entertains us all every year with her rants brought on by people who come to the disco in outfits not representative of the disco era (or even of the 70s). Here's Anne's advice for all you disco lovers:

Anne`s Guide to Disco

When attending and event as large as the World`s Largest Disco one must come prepared. This guide will help the masses prepare for the event and make sure that they are not stepping on the boundaries of various era as well as not piss me off with their choice of apparel.

When beginning the journey to transcend into disconess, one must know the true meaning of disco.

Disco was a popular dance music, especially in the late 1970`s, characterized by strong repetitive bass rhythms. Discothèque comes from the French language meaning “record library”. This was then shortened to disco and used to described music, dance and fashion.

Disco Fashion

Please be aware that psychedelic miniskirts and white boots were not part of disco fashion. These are the garb worn by go-go dancers in the 60`s. Disco fashion was much more sophisticated and glamorous. If you would like to flip your hair, wear a headband and flash a peace sign at every opportunity, please choose another venue. The disco is not the place to come with your mixed up ideas of disco. When someone truly has the essence of disco thoughts of polyester suits, Kaftan dresses, flared trousers, platform shoes and catsuits should come to mind. There was also no shortage of sequins. If in doubt check out this website: http://www.fashion-era.com/1970s.htm

Disco music and moves

Signature dance moves for anyone who loves the night life and wants to boogie can take cues from the most infamous disco goer, Tony Manero. Tony Manero is the character played by John Travolta in the 1977 classic “Saturday Night Fever”. He had moves that made the ladies crazy. If you want the same effect, practice the Hustle. It`s a classic and easy to do. Take notes and dance along to Saturday Night Fever, rent it, watch it, and be it.

These tips and techniques are here to help guide you through your disco experience. Remember, it may be easy to pick up a miniskirt and a fringed vest but when you choose to be a hippie for a disco party you are not only hurting yourself, your also hurting my patience. In closing I would also like to indicate that if you show up in any Cyndi Lauper garb then you are seriously mistaken your eras and shouldn`t be there because you are most likely not old enough to consume alcohol (I’m just saying).

Disco is all the Rage

As I do every year, I spent my birthday weekend in Buffalo NY, attending the World's Largest Disco. This year, despite a huge rise in ticket cost (it's for charity, what are you gonna do?) the event was still sold out by the first week in September.

The best part of this year's disco, is that they shifted the event hours form 8-12 to 9-1. This allowed us additional time to get ready, and take a billion pictures in the hotel before we took the shuttle to the convention center. Ianovich, though he flew in from the UK to attend, was suffering from Jet Lag and slept through the entire event.

This year sold out faster than it ever has before and, as a result, I was left without tickets for myself and Joey B. Thankfully, the fabulous Natalie Ventresca had an extra for me but I had to buy Joey B's ticket on stubhub.com - for twice the face value. The kicker is that I forgot the ticket in Chicago so I MAY have had to trade a certain amount of money PERHAPS in exchange for another ticket the day of the event with a man who could POSSIBLY be considered a scalper. If I had done such a thing, I may have felt doubly stupid because the man might have charged me only half of what the aforementioned website charged.

The night was, as always, incredibly fun and the fast bar service and additional washrooms just added to the really positive vibe. This year's guests were four of the Brady children; Greg, Peter, Bobby and Cindy, respectively. They taught everyone how to do a dance from their variety show days. There was also a group of Village People who led everyone from the stage when they played YMCA - the cowboy was DREAMY.

The only (mild) downer for me was around midnight, they showed a slide show presentation showing the children of who attend Camp Good Days (the chosen cancer charity for this year's event) set to a very sad song. Suddenly, all these people around us were crying.

My friend Anne, whose personal pet peeve, is people who dress from the wrong era at themed events, ranted every time she saw a girl in gogo boots. As a result of these hilarious tirades, I offered Anne a chance to guest blog and very soon you will all learn the error of your ways - not that any Rage Reader would ever dress inappropriately!

Due to the crazy snow storm yesterday here in Chicago, I have not been able to upload my photos from the event, but here are some shots by Chris Brown. I Hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend.