lifeonq.com

Ticketholders Thrown a Curve at Peach Party

Curve Magazine’s Peach Party left Atlanta lesbians stunned.

As the Peach Party crowd grew well into the night Saturday night, hundreds were left on line down West Peachtree Street, curving around the corner on 17th as a thin crew at the door ID’ed, arm-banded and released the lesbians into the Center Stage theatre’s two bars. Having purchased advanced tickets saved five bucks, but bought you no time, as the ticketed and unticketed waited in queue together.

As women waited to reach the door, they passed the time watching new arrivals clutching tickets head for the front of the line, only to reappear on their way around the corner to the end of the line on 17th, each displaying a unique but predictable look of stunned surprise and perplexity as they carried their pre-paid tickets to the back of the queue. Meanwhile, a VIP queue was virtually unused all evening, with fewer than 10 women gracing the VIP velvet ropes during one hour of waiting for the rest of us. “It’ll be last call before we even get in there!,” complained one.

(Here’s another “L Word” for Curve Magazine: Lines! Shouldn’t there be three—one for VIPs, one for ticket holders, and one for the ticket-less? It would seem to be to the Peach Party’s advantage to get women off the streets and spending money inside as quickly as possible.)

Once inside, the impatience quickly dissipated as a different sort of stunned look crossed the faces. Hundreds of women packed two dance floors. Most were dressed to the nine’s. Others chose their best pair of flip-flops or were careful to pick just the right flannel shirt for the big event. The trucker’s hat had to match. All in all, the Peach party proved that L.A. lesbian hipness as portrayed on The L Word has some serious competition in Atlanta’s lesbian population.

DJ Pat Pat from Tampa was back for her second Peach appearance. Spinning an infectious mix of Latin beats and dance favorites, she kept the crowd on their toes….and heels…and their best pair of flip-flops….until well after last call.

Pat Pat threw in quite a few crowd-pleasers, including a danceable remix of Betty’s The L Word theme. The upstairs dance floor was packed and sweaty, but the mood was “party!” and the women friendly and accommodating as they curved through the crowd.

The smaller downstairs dance floor was the Peach Party’s first impression. Unfortunately, the smaller room was interrupted by tables and less encouraging of dancers, but Atlanta’s own DJ Kim Crawford succeeded in setting a festive mood for new arrivals with a pop-ier and rock-ier Top 40s mix. All lesbians love a little Joan Jett now and again. Party planners chose to throw in a couple of live performances, which seemed out of context despite the performers’ best efforts to capture the crowd.

In the end, the Peach Party seemed to be a sweet treat for lesbians attending the Atlanta Pride Festival 2007.