Dirty Show X Review
February 9th, 2009
I just flew in from Detroit and boy are my arms tired! Sorry…I love that old joke. Actually we got back from the Dirty Show late yesterday afternoon, but I was way too fried to even think about blogging last night. Still pretty wiped out today…but it’s time for my annual review of the show.
That’s this year’s crew in the photo. If you were there Saturday night you no doubt noticed Gaea. Seemed like everyone did. She had a crowd around her most of the evening. That outfit was quite a hit. But I have to say that everyone in my crowd this year was a lot of fun to be with. We had a great time.
The show itself was pretty good. It gets better each year. The crowd Saturday night seemed to be much larger than it was the last two years. That can only be good. The unseasonably warm weather may have helped the turnout. I hope it translates into some print sales. We’ll see.
I’m going to divide my review into two parts: The Art and the Stage Show.
The Art:
This is the strongest Dirty Show I’ve seen. In the past I’ve said that something like 1/3 of the show was good art and the rest was just dirty. This year is a huge improvement. I’d have to say the good art was something like 4/5 of the show. There’s still that 1/5 that seems to be lacking any reason to be on the walls except that it is dirty…but I’m very impressed with the quality of the show this year. I’m actually really pleased that my work is included. If you haven’t been to the show it isn’t too late. Go next weekend. Really. It’s a great show. http://www.dirtydetroit.com/
The Stage Show:
I really, really wish I could say something good about the stage show. I want to. Last year there was one excellent act. She wasn’t back this year. The show is just really bad. I understand that the performers are friends of the Dirty Show people. They are performers who have supported the Dirty Show since it began. I want to like them. I want to find something that was worth seeing.
Sorry. The stage shows were uniformly awful. Maybe I’m old and out of touch…OK…I AM old and out of touch…but I just can’t quite see how walking around the stage in trashy lingerie shouting “fuck you” and giving the finger to the audience can be considered an act. Maybe if some folks would take up a collection and get these poor girls some lessons at Arthur Murray or something…maybe that would help, because there was no evidence that any of them had ever had any training in dance…or that they had ever rehearsed their “acts” for that matter.
The performers were loud and almost naked. I guess that’s something. But the volume made it impossible to carry on a conversation for any period of time. I guess they help set the mood of the show. It certainly wouldn’t be quite appropriate to have a string quartet playing quietly in the corner…although if the musicians were as scantily clad as the performers Saturday night that might be interesting…
I know there are better burlesque acts out there. I know the performers who were there were trying hard and doing their best. But I can’t help but say that I think the Dirty Show would be a much better event if the quality of the stage show were raised. As it is now, it’s really just a noisy annoying distraction from the very fine art that is on display.
If you were there Saturday night and we didn’t get to talk, I’m sorry. There were a lot of folks I was looking for and didn’t find. The crowd was huge. I walked around for a while and then decided to just stay in one spot (near Gaea and most of the rest of my posse) and hope that those I was looking for would wander by. Some did…a lot didn’t. So it goes.
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