The Apollo and The Canal Room

Friday was the one year anniversary of the death of Michael Jackson. Sarah told me she thought there would be a celebration of life of some sort at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. Our friend Kelly was visiting Laura and me from VA so we all decided to go up and see what was happening. After work and class we met at Welcome to The Johnson's to have drinks with Laura's new friends from school. We all had a good time and enjoyed cheap PBRs. Next we went across the street to Mason Dixon to have some supper and watch people ride a mechanical bull. After supper we were off to Harlem. It was exciting to see the Apollo Marquis, emblazoned with a tribute to Michael, but the rest of the affair, I'm sorry to say, was weird. There was definitely not the love filled street vigil Sarah and I were hoping for. When we got to the Apollo there was a small gathering. Maybe something more formal had happened earlier and it was breaking up but whatever was going on it was small. There were a couple of street vendors with t shirts etc and people and music playing quietly. What was weird was, for about 150 people, there were at least 25 cops and a riot van. When we arrived they were busy putting up fencing because they didn't want anyone in the street. After they had fenced everyone in, they moved the fences in further because they decided that there needed to be a walkway ON the sidewalk too. So basically they took a smallish, VERY peaceful gathering, and created a tense security issue. I have been to several gatherings in the city, and any moment of the day is more crowded in Times Square and it was absolutely clear that the problem was that the people gathered were mostly black and gathering in Harlem. It was really really upsetting. I must stress that it was VERY peaceful. NOBODY was rowdy or out of hand or even loud. The people were friendly, festive, relaxed. Everyone was rolling their eyes at the two dozen cops there to make sure nobody had ANY fun. We stayed a while but there wasn't much to see. The people were in good spirits but subdued both by the seriousness of the occasion, and the fact that too much fun would probably be seen as a riot. There were a few impersonators for comic relief. Also plenty spangled gloves.




Saturday was a busy busy day. Laura and Kelly got up to pick up a desk Laura had gotten from Craiglist in another neighborhood in Brooklyn and then met India and Jessica for brunch. I got ready and headed to meet them in the city for the USA/Ghana World Cup match, a part of Drew's birthday party. By the time I got to the bar where Drew and his friends were, the place was full and not letting anyone else in so Laura texted to head uptown and meet at a bar called Tonic in Times Square. We got there at the same time and headed into the very crowded sports bar. We were lucky though, and scored a giant booth when Jessica's husband, who was also there, had to leave with a friend who was being ejected from the bar. Lucky us. We had terrific seats for the match and even beers the guys didn't get to drink before leaving. Unfortunately we did not win the game but we all had a good time cheering and chanting USA and dancing to Waka Waka.


After the match we got back in touch with Drew so we could meet him to celebrate. We met up and headed to the Standard Biergarten in Chelsea, under the High Line. After beers we went up on the High Line, which was gorgeous and walked around a bit. Then we came down and found a diner for some supper.

I was super excited because my favorite band from home, The Reflex, booked a gig at The Canal Room for Saturday night. We went there next and waited a long time for the show to start. Once it did though it was terrific. The crowd was completely out of hand. We had as much fun people watching from right by the stage as we did dancing and singing to the music. The band played until 2 and by then it was time to go home. Laura and I were both hurting to sit down for a while and Kelly needed some sleep before she hit the road back to Virginia in the morning. Fortunately the band plays again in July and I hope to go again, and bring more people with me.