The smell was too much. Vintage Poison Esprit de Parfum in the hair and clothes, and Rogue Perfumery’s Flos Mortis poured liberally on the neck and body. Sweet. Tawdry. But somehow perfect for Marc Almond, as I emerged from the karaoke booth as Burning Bush and we made our way to the concert.
Bottles were caked in face paint (I had neglected to put lids back on in my fur coat pocket), and both flacons emerged later as though through ectoplasm. Smeared with the evidence of the evening.
( convenience store clerk encounters a creature she didn’t suspect)
The thing with perfume is that it stays on your hands, it stays on your clothes; it soaks up a memory while creating it. So the next day, the combined smell of tuberose remained on everything, in the kitchen despite of me, and Flower OF Death is now already quintessentially the smell of Saturday night. I have been overworked these last six weeks and really needed to let go; clad in uptight citrus the whole time I was ready for something more outsized and ridiculous, more Soho Pink Flamingo, and it worked.
(BB makes its way to the stage……….stage left )
And although at first I was skeptical – the stage presentation, the volume, the choice of songs, the everything, after a while magic started to happen and I rushed forward to the stage even though you are not allowed to and actually sang Say Hello, Wave Goodbye with him AT THE STAGE ………………………….he physically handed me over the mic for the ‘goodbye’
The Black Narcissus 
I reckon you made his night, how wonderful!
You do? He did look happy, I must say x
Sounds and looks like the perfect night out to me, Neil. Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret is such an under-rated 80s album.
SO GOOD
Though I like The Art Of Falling Apart even more .
I loved it. We had such a great night and it was JUST what I needed after being cooped up in school for six weeks.
You sang with Marc Almond? That’s wonderful! I’ve loved all his work since Soft Cell. A brilliant artist. Lucky you!
No seriously, that place is very strict, usually, about going towards the stage, but when he started singing Say Hello I just acted instinctively and HAD to look into his eyes as he sang it as that song is so affecting and it destroys my father as well – the chorus is a killer: I know nothing else like it.
So basically I shoved my way past some very disgruntled punters and sang passionately and adoringly right in front and then he handed me the mike. D and my friends couldn’t believe it. For me it was amazing, but also like destiny.
I can imagine the feeling that prompted you, and why he’d want you to join in. Beautiful. Confirms my impression of both you and Marc Almond!
!
I am very instinctive, and he seemed very nice.
Yes that’s what I mean 🙂
Hail and Dennis are streaming my window, perfect companions for reading your Perfect wettest dream experience .
I almost smelled the pancake, paralysed in Poison extract .
BB persona extravaganza of mystery ..
the yang side of BN! DQ par excellence.
Worth the stage every inch!
It was!!!
x
The convenience store clerk looks terrified… that is some pretty intense makeup and hair. 🙂 How thrilling you got to stand right at the stage and actually sing with him like that. A magical moment that was destined to be.
It feels like it.
And I LOVE that picture of the convenience store lady….so funny. Actually, she knows me and naturally, the vast majority of the time obviously I am just there as my usual salaryman/teacher or normal weekend self, and she always asks me when I are dressing up again? I think on this occasion though she WAS a little taken aback. I was a mess.
Sounds like an absolutely amazing evening!!! everything from scent choices to makeup all the way through him handing you the mike seems completely sublime.
So glad you finally had a chance to relieve the pressure and let loose, you were probably like a pressure cooker up until that point and the night was pure catharsis for you.
I will probably have to discuss it further in another post, but yes – I was exhausted. And am still a big teenager at heart.
Glad it’s not only I who still feels like a teenager. I think it is because we grew up during such amazing times, musically and entertainment wise, that it coloured who we are for our whole lives.
Now, if only Allison Moyet would tour the US, I would be in a frenzy.
WE ALL NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED A LOVE RESURRECTION.
I mean this whole topic is something I could write about for pages and pages. The issue of ‘maturity’ and so on. I know I do probably look utterly ridiculous to a lot of people who might chance upon this blog, but the fact is, during the week I am a responsible ‘adult’ who does his job properly; I pay my taxes and blah blah blah, but I also refuse to ossify (my legs are already doing that for me). While I love the accrued wisdom that getting older brings, if you actually are a thinking person,I honestly do believe that a lot of people really lose much of what made them alive when they were younger; their spirits become stuck and calcified. I am very lucky in having a partner who is the same as I am in that regard: we love life and can’t stand boredom and just surrendering ourselves to the malaise of just coming home, consuming, and sleeping.
CREATE, CREATE. DANCE, DANCE!!!
My sentiments exactly!! Even though I haven’t gone dancing in a club in over 16 years. I dance around the house daily. It is the much needed cathartic feeling for when middle age looms.
Looks like a great night!! The world is so shit right now you need to let rip sometimes.
xx
the world is SHIT – and just woken up to the Japan Times headline, JAPAN SEEKS TO PREVENT PANIC AMID OUTBREAK.
ugh.