July 31st 2005

San Diego Pride Crowd!

This entry comes from guest diarist and prominent Wowser (you’ve seen him in the pit) Randall “The Dancingbehr” Adkins.

The weather in San Diego had been hot and balmy all week. Thunder and lightning storms from Hurricane Emily had passed through Southern California, and yet on the weekend of July 29-31st the skies cleared. On Sunday evening, things got even hotter as Bow Wow Wow rocked the stage to help celebrate San Diego's 31st Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans-gender Pride Festival.

Held at Marston Point in the world renowned Balboa Park, Leigh, Phil and Adrian took the stage first – right on time (no Jody Watelys holding up this show!. Adrian, of course, being his playful outrageous self, strutted out shyly to his drum set, wearing black lipstick, a spaghetti strapped tank top, a tuxedo jock strap and a black bowler hat. The set was launched in traditional warrior-style with "Sun, Sea and Piracy" and the temperature went soaring up, up, up from there. Annabella hit the stage running, dressed in her tribal attire, and the call to worship began.

The band played a solid set (45 minutes) and each member seemed to be happier than ever (sexy smiles, Leigh!).

There was great press before the show; "no doubt" our fabulous Nicole Powers' handiwork. San Diego's Buzz magazine cover featured BWW with a full length interview with Annabella and Leigh. Annabella had been asked why she didn't have dialogue with the audiences, and her reply was consistent with the Buddhist teachings of being in the present moment; not rehearsing or having a set dialogue pre-planned. Relying solely on the audiences' energy, Annabella must have got just what she needed as she was rather chatty the whole night.

Everyone had been forewarned by the emcee, "Uh oh, there's a pack of bears out there... there's gonna be trouble!" As BWW launched in "See Jungle," the bears proved the emcee right. The chanting and dancing took on a feverish pitch, with sweat and body parts flying in all directions.

With a first-time performance in many years of "Mario...Your Own Way To Paradise," and an outstanding version of Nancy Sinatra's 60's hit, "These Boots are Made for Walking,” it was a truly special evening. Yet, let the truth be known, Annabella's moccasin boots are made for dancing! Annabella had encouraged the crowd to move closer to the stage early in the set, yet many of the "California casuals" chose to sit back and kick-it on the grass until, you guessed it, "I Want Candy", then the dance was on in a tribal way.

Due to time constraints, with the festival closing at 8pm sharp, BWW was not allowed a second encore, which pissed many of the fans.

All in all, this was probably THE best show since last August. I say this because most of the fans were just that, FANS. Not lookie-loos, real fans! We all danced fervently, and sang EVERY word.