Divers/Cite

Montreal Pride: a little confusing.
Basically the entire month of August seems like Pride. Towards the beginning of the month are the Festivities called Divers/Cite (there's an accent on the "e" but don't know that feature on my laptop). It's a week long event celebrating diversity, particularly in the gay community, in Montreal. I assumed Divers/Cite was Montreal's Official Gay Pride but there actually is an Official Montreal Gay Pride weekend coming up which has the Parade and its own parties.

"Pierre is such a wonderful person. My sister's adore him. He was Angel on the National tour of Rent and also in Miss Saigon. When I showed him the picture of Neil Patrick Harris on the cover of OUT magazine he said, "'Oh my God, NPH. He looks so good. I should text him'. And then he did. They did Rent together in LA. I admit that I am a bit of a celebrity whore. I just think it's fierce that I know people who know famous people."

It's actually pretty cool because they close off the main street and build terraces and stages for performances. Unfortunately the weather was pretty drab this year which made it a bit lacklustre. I don't know why, but for me, it was hard to get into the spirit of things. It was yet another busy work week and I just didn't feel really pumped for pride. The great thing was my friend Pierre was in town to celebrate and the last time I saw him was early in the winter. Pierre has been living abroad teaching english in Hungary so it was nice to have him in Montreal to catch up.

"gay day in Montreal: don't forget your umbrella"

Our gay adventures were pretty tame. I kept my DJ gig at Typhoon Saturday night so the following afternoon we headed into the Village to meet up with some of Pierre's friends who were also in town celebrating. It was pretty grey out so there probably wasn't as many people walking the streets as per previous years but we headed over to the tea dance to party on the street. At the Tea Dance I saw a lot of familiar faces I couldn't seem to place. Are you from Toronto? New York? Did I see you at Stereo? So many people. The music was what was to be expected. High Energy, pumping tribal, with some diva vocals. Hands were raised in the air, cuties were gliding around in Dolce sunglasses and there were plenty of misfits to critique and judge."tea dance "
My sister, dancing amongst the 'mos.

This pretty much carried on well into the evening when Pierre and his old roommate and friend Brian (along with his partner, Martin) headed out to the D/C after party. I'll try not to bore you with too many details of the party. I'm falling asleep just thinking about what I want to write about it.

It's not that the event was terrible. It was just sort of generic (for a gay party). Firstly, the party was to have happened at Stereo but that club survived a fire about a month before Divers/Cite so they changed the venue to the Telus Theatre, which was pretty much a regular theatre with the seats taken out and everyone facing the DJ on the stage. Architecture and Design play such an important part in a really successful club experience. Friends went to the same venue for a different party a few nights earlier and their comment was, "it felt like you were dancing in the bottom of an empty pool". I couldn't have agreed more. A Theatre is a poor substitute for a Club Space. Clubs are about diversion and entertainment. Great clubs are either dark, seedy, sweaty black boxes with intense lighting or there filled with colourful corridors, dark-lit corners, seating and roped off VIP sections. Going to the bathroom, though annoying at times, is also an adventure in and of itself. Good Clubs have levels, have shape, have character. We were dancing in a pure, square space. And there was nowhere for us to hide or go but stand still and stare at the DJ.

This would have been okay had the DJs been interesting or worthy of commanding such attention. Again, they weren't bad. They did their jobs and they did them well. They played all the right tracks (I suppose) but they just didn't really build any moments that were memorable. Building a night takes control. It's about creating a vibe, an atmosphere. The few times I was fortunate to go to the Roxy in New York (I was also there for the closing) for the most part, no matter who was on the decks, at around six or seven in the morning the mood of that space became different. The music shifted slightly. It was though the night was slowly building to a high energy, tribal heavy, crescendo and then out of nowhere it slinked its way into something darker, dirtier even, and downright sexy. At the D/C after party I was kind of waiting for the moment to arrive. Perhaps I didn't wait long enough to see it happen (Pierre and I hopped into a cab at around six in the morning) but after about twenty minutes of listening to the headlining DJ I kind of felt like I knew what kind of music I was going to hear for the next three hours and I felt ready to go. It only made me even more aware of how much my priorities have changed. Yes, I still like to go out but music plays such an important part of the experience. I didn't find the music inspiring nor the crowd. Mediocre space, mediocre music, mediocre crowd (myself included). Three strikes and it was time to get out.

What really made that weekend special for me was the following night when Pierre, Brian, Martin and I went to a lovely restaurant in Old Montreal called Chez L'Epicerie. I would never consider myself a cuisinista or Foodie. I would see people all the time in New York City get all decked out for a night of eating and think to myself, "how fun could that be?" But honestly, that meal was probably the most fun I had that whole Pride weekend. The meal was fantastic, the service was prompt and our food runner was Wallpaper-magazine-cute. Yet another sign that perhaps I am getting a little older and appreciating some of the finer things in life like a great meal amongst good friends. If I had to pick between my meal at Chez L'Epicerie or the D/C After-Party as to what brought more joy and inspiration to my life, hands down: Duo seafood of Scallops and Lobster tail on a bed of diced sweet potatoes with oven-roasted cloves of garlic.
"Martin, Brian and Pierre"