BostonFab!

First Fridays has been moved all over the state it seems, but perhaps has finally found a home in Boston at The (Baseball) Tavern in Fenway…well at least this month.

Me and my Fab! Friend Chanelle found our way in early to catch the fashion show by Bella Donna. At the door we were greeted by one of the hosts Stephen Anglin – looking handsome as always. Thanks for lookin’ out Steven! First stop, restrooms, to refresh. The main floor restroom’s light was out…fluke so we headed downstairs to the lower level where the band was setting up. Shout out to “my date” (inside joke) Alonzo “Music Man” Harris FYI: The bathroom although functional is suuuuper tight and doesn’t have a mirror! Ugh.

Back upstairs we were told to “clear the aisle” what aisle I dunno, for the fashion show that was about to take place. We politely obliged, but I was taken aback by what were considered fashions. Spring colors, unevenly cut hemlines, bra straps and mismatched fabrics abounded. In a word: WTF? When there was a break in the style parade, we scurried upstairs for reprieve. Next.

R&B DJ

Once upstairs we headed to the bar for our drinks with a friendly and cute male bartender. Who served us swiftly. When a young lady tried to cut us in line kindly let her know she would have to wait until after we had been served. THANK YOU! The place was grooving to the R&B set by the DJ. I was feelin’ all the Mary J, Neyo, SWV…y’all know I can listen to the stuff all day.

Promoter Rob entered the room with DJ Playtime and his brother. I guess he’s on the celebrity status where he doesn’t play venues until 12 a.m. - ‘kay -,  as he made his own round at the bar.

When Playtime did get called to the tables he went in with a usually good set of R&B, Hip Hop and Reggae. That is until the AKA’s bum rushed the dance floor and mucked it up with their “All the Single Ladies” pink T’s and jeans. First of all when did y’all coin the Beyonce phrase? And second, I thought y’all were suppos’d to be the epitome of classiness and style…couldn’t you step up the t-shirt look with with some liquid leggings, a mule or some calf boots? A little makeup? I was very confused and annoyed that Playtime played up their presence by basically dedicating every other song to them. I graduated. Did you?

Vaughn Anthony

In the corner Vaughn Anthony was set up with a meet and greet table where fans got to take photos and chat with the R&B star. Had I not been positioned near the table I would of missed the fact that he was there at all as Tito Jackson got more shout outs than he did. Around 1 a.m. Vaughn was whisked to the basement to play his set. Slightly put out with the upstairs action, I trekked down the steep two flights to hear his set.

To end the night we headed back upstairs for the final notes of the reggae set to find most of the place had cleared, but we were going to dance out every last note.

This was quite the undertaking and I know that the promoters did their best to keep everything moving. Whenever you have a multi-layered event organization is key and I haven’t seen any group yet it without major confusion -  and this group was no exception. Moving upstairs to down, fashion shows and live performances, it’s a lot to do in one night. Although I ended up having a pretty good time it was a hodgepodge and I would have liked more continuity.

Grade: B