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Before Chances, before Transmission, before Heartless Bitch, there was Fruit.
Dubbed “Chicago’s queerest dance party”, Fruit was the first to bring the gays, lesbos, gender-queers, scenesters, and a couple of token straights together in the name of dancing.
DJs Ali and Erik from WLUW’s Think Pink threw the first Fruit on Pride weekend of 2004 at the Hideout to give the Halsted hating homos and those not so comfortable at a Chix Mix party a place to hang out. Fruit parties were always a guaranteed freak fest, with the dirty kids sweating, dancing and getting smellier and dirtier. The music was a smart mix of 80’s, dance-punk, hip-hop and indie.
This Saturday was the final Fruit dance party and it was no exception.
I love Fruit parties here because you can immediately note the much queerer than usual crowd. The outside patio was packed with femmes trying to keep their makeup from melting. It’s hard work getting dolled up, especially in the summer. I never want to spend all that time getting ready only to end up looking like an extra in a John Waters film.
I overheard a guy saying he was going to lick the stamp on his hand to let some cheapskate get in for free. I’m just as broke as the next gay, but I’m not so sure you should be scamming a benefit.
In defense though, what isn’t a benefit these days? It’s a great way to guilt people into coming to your event and ensuring (or so I thought) that people won’t complain about the cover charge. For example, that night, a friend of mine was promoting a mud wrestling benefit to be held in a kiddie pool in her backyard the following afternoon. Which reminds me, I’ll be throwing a benefit for my landlord around the end of the month and it will involve Jell-O shots and strip tease
This time around, Fruit was hosted by my favorite drag queen, Miss Teena Angst. A member of the performance group Estoterica, Teena is hilarious and extremely hot. Speaking of getting dolled up! She was wearing a long black wig, pale make-up accented with rhinestones and a costume which reminded me of an Olympic figure skater; short and silver and covered in more sparkly rhinestones. She was like a fresh drink of water on a hot summer night, a sparkling diamond in a sea of kids dressed in dark denim and black t-shirts. She truly inspires me to be more of a woman. I know of at least a couple butches who have huge crushes on her and are speechless in her presence.
At the end of the night, when there were about 30 die-hards and the lights were starting to come up, Teena settled a debate over a two-time raffle winner by forcing him into dance off with someone else for the prize. It was hotter than a Christina Aguilera video. It is spontaneous moments like this that make me appreciate the alternative queer scene that Fruit helped foster.
We needed Fruit. I thank it for spawning a host of other dance parties where we can be as dirty as we wanna be.
Amy Miller is an ex-radical cheerleader and current dance routine performer. She appreciates themed dress codes for any occasion.
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