Disco Diva Diaries
They may have been at the height of their careers more than three decades ago, but that didn't stop an enthusiastic crowd from enjoying the sounds of Maxine Nightingale, Sister Sledge and Gloria Gaynor on New Year's Eve. The Disco Divas of the 1970s entertained a large”but not sold-out”crowd at the remodeled Mahaffey Theater with their greatest and biggest hits. The biggest crowd pleaser seemed to be Nightingale, who opened the show and got the noticeably older crowd up on their feet early on. By the time Sister Sledge took over the stage, fans were dancing in the aisle and several were even welcomed up on stage to shake what their mamas gave them.
Gaynor closed the show with a 40 minute set that included her re-imagined versions of “Every Breath You Take” and other hits. She wrapped things up with a stirring rendition of her anthem, “I Will Survive,” before the crowd made its way outside to enjoy the fireworks presented by the City of St. Petersburg over Tampa Bay.
Another gay invasion of Ybor
Our friends Mark Bias and Carrie West, who always have their fingers on the pulse of what's happening in Tampa, shared that a flood of new LGBT bars are coming to Tampa”and three of them will open in Ybor City. The Liquid Lounge is relocating to the corner of 7th Avenue and 15th Street and will take over the old Blue Shark location. That makes room for a new Leather/Levi Men's bar, yet to be named, to take over the former Liquid Lounge location next door to the Laughing Cat.
Barbarella, which will feature a new LGBT T-Dance on Sundays, opened on New Year's Eve in the space formerly occupied by Frankie's Patio. The proprietors of MC Film Fest also told us that a new mega-dance club is coming to North Hyde Park, and it's rumored to be called Mary-Go-Round.
2012 is already shaping up to be a huge year for LGBT entertainment in Tampa.
The return of Gasparilla Gancho
Plans are finalized for the second Gancho party weekend in Tampa during the last weekend of January”and it has shaped up to be a big sophomore year. The annual dance party spans three nights and coincides with Gasparilla, Tampa's version of Mardi Gras that “celebrates” the pirate invasion of Jose Gaspar.
This year's festivities begin on Friday, Jan. 27, with “Havoc” at the Amphitheatre in Ybor City featuring DJ Abel. The festivities continue on Saturday, Jan. 27 with the Gasparilla Parade Party at Urban Body followed by the Gancho Dance Party at the Ritz Ybor at 10 p.m.
Things wrap up on Sunday, Jan. 29, when DJ Oren Nizri spins at “Unleashed” at Rise. Details and a full schedule is available on the Gancho Facebook page and at GanchoTampa.com.
