Boom Boom Room was a weekly party here in Chicago held on Monday nights @ a few nightclubs. i started when it was at Red Dog, then it moved around and ended up at a Jazz club/restaurant, Green Dolphin Street (later Dolphin) b4 it was ended. b/c it was a Monday night thing the party tended to draw only folks who were dedicated to dancing...and service industry ppl on their night off. the music was strictly House - mostly Underground House. the kind of music you'd expect to hear in a legendary House party in Chicago. the crowd was mostly young folks in our 20s and 30s - an even mix of gay, str8, whatever. there was NO dress code, no door drama, a low cover charge. the DJs were local gods who regularly worked out of town too. high-profile House DJs would come through for guest appearances but we were there for the local DJs, really. i always left that joint at 4AM having sweat all the way through my clothes down to my socks. Tuesday mornings at work were ROUGH. but i was like 21 to 24 years old then so i could take it.

T-Dance is still a weekly party out in SF at The End Up. but it's not nearly as awesome as it was even 5 yrs ago. that's a common theme thrown around by older ppl about __ in SF...and it's true here. i don't blame the tech bros for ruining this party - i blame greedy owners and bottle service. anyway, T-Dance was like Boom Boom Room in that there was no dress code or door drama (long lines b/c the joint was always PACKED TO THE GILLS not b/c they were being funky about letting folks in) and a low cover charge. the crowd was eclectic as fuck - everyone was represented. the party started at like 7 or 8 AM on Sunday and went until 2 AM though it changed names to Devotion around 4PM but the vibe was mostly the same. well, the vibe and the crowd got more Black as day turned to night. and by 'Black' i mean Black and Gay, really. the later party was called 'Devotion' b/c we had CHURCH in there. it was a spiritual thing. oh, and the DJs would often play Gospel House records too to tap into that Sunday/church vibe. there was usually a tamborine being banged out ... or several. the music was intensely Underground House that just dripped w/Soul. the DJs were also local gods and big name DJs came through. i was there once when Little Louie Vega (Masters at Work) was spinning and the shit got so good to him when he played 'It's Alright I Feel It' (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGSD-jKOfn8) he came out of the DJ booth and danced w/us on the floor. that's another party i regularly left w/my clothes wet.

(btw - that's the best compliment i can give about a party that i left w/my clothes dripping w/sweat b/c i danced so much and so hard b/c the music was THAT good)

Body & Soul was a weekly thing on Sundays in NYC. it's kinda like that T-Dance in SF. the vibe was more hardcore though - the dancers there were more intense than any i've seen anywhere. probably b/c many of them are professionals? i went w/my homegirl who's a professional dancer in NYC - she was courting me to join her (*pops collar*). dancing there w/them taught me a lot. i also think that crowd was very knowledgeable about the music. like they would appreciate under-rated classics that most crowds would miss. lots of clapping and tamborines and call-response...very interactive. and they appreciated the hell out of the DJs. same deal - local DJs who were gods and world-known at the same time. big name DJs and singers came through regularly but the party wasn't really about them, it was about the music and dancing. no one was there to see or be seen - we were there to dance.