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“Is Madonna coming? Is she here?”—that was the question on the lips
of more than a few Darkroom devotees on Friday night at the Highline
Ballroom. Because in light of Stereo’s unceremonious closing, Peter
Rauhofer had moved his
WORK
party to the Chelsea concert venue once known as Glo and Powder—with
a poster invite featuring Madonna splayed and superimposed over
WORK.
“Four minutes”—and counting… She’ll be here soon—or so the kidz
hoped.
And then there were the others asking, “Is it Peter? Is that
him?”—because the stage was that dark and it didn’t look like
Peter—and it wasn’t at first. But then he appeared—and by then, the
800-capacity venue had filled to comfort factor with a coterie of
glama boyz wearing Dior and Ed Hardy, glitter and chains, sparkles
and metal, satin and velour. There was the Providence Posse: Andrei
Stylin’ and Richie Rich, Jr., along with Andrew, Ivan the One, Chris
and Dino. And there was Mother Juan with a flock of Aviance
children. And Backflip Boy—who’s most definitely loosened up since
he left the rave and joined the circuit. Hello! And JetBlue Clay
who flew in from Mexico, leaving boyfriend behind on the beach.
As one kid said to us, in anticipation of Darkroom, “Are you
kidding? Of course, I’ll be there. It’s PETER!” And then there
was another who was leaving Gotham on Saturday to make it to Mansion
in Miami Beach for Peter (and Tracy’s) Sunday morning Winter Music
Conference party. Such fervent Peter devotion!
And no wonder—in spite of club difficulties beyond his control, the
man has been having a moment for quite some months. From Montreal
to Miami, and back to New York, Peter has the ability to recast the
familiar into a churning industrial rhythm nation beat. Take his
version of “Make It Last” on Friday night, which he reworked into an
aural equivalent of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis”—all pulsing and
pounding, clanking and clinking—as the boyz WORKed it out on
the floor. It was the start of the Black Party weekend—and the boyz
were ready to
WORK—overtime,
all weekend long. Oh, and if you see Madonna, tell her she’s late
for
WORK!
Best always,
Mark and Robert
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