100% BOY | SPECIAL REPORT (Almost) A week in the life of Boy George This week 100% boy got to spend the week with George. Well, almost... We didn’t actually spend the week in his pocket or anything like that - oh no - we have far too much respect for his personal and private life for that, but high-lights include being invited to attend the Kitty Daisy and Lewis gig in Camden as a guest of George, going to George's appearance with David Hoyle at the RVT, and spending the day with George at a fabulous photo shoot with Jean Baptiste Mondino! Let’s start at the beginning then... Since George was released from Edmunds Hill he and I have been trying to set a date where we can get together, socially, and also to have a little 'meeting' concerning the site (which incidentally - just to clear up a few rumours - George does consider this site as his official site). After a few failed attempts at arranging this (me booking the wrong train from Torquay where I live my quiet life, and George double-booking etc) we both decided that as I was coming down to London to see George 's performance with David Hoyle at the RVT I should stay a few days and make the most of it. Also, this was his free week of ‘freedom’ after having his tag removed on Monday evening. So, I packed my little suitcase and man-bag and headed for the smoke. I like London. In small doses. The older I get the smaller I prefer the doses.. I used to live in London in the early 90's, and I still have some fabulous friends there, but I much prefer my relatively quiet existence, and I'm lucky to live in the beautiful seaside town of Torquay. One of the fabulous friends that I still have in London is the Very Miss Dusty O, who graciously gives up his spare room whenever I come to town. Behind Dusty's working image of very glamorous drag lies a sweet, kind hearted, loveable, individual individual, and I'm blessed to have him as a friend. As soon as I got settled in at Dusty's I phoned up George to arrange that evening. The concert that George had invited me to wasn’t to start until 10:30, so we arranged to meet a 9:30 in Camden, and he told me that I could take a friend if I wanted. The late start of the concert meant that I could accompany Dusty to Vauxhall, where he was DJing at Gay City Rollers at the Renaissance Rooms. This was quite a surreal experience. Starting quite early at 7:30 this monthly event consists of Dusty spinning classic and 70's disco on the decks whilst the mostly gay crowd don the skates and get on down to the funky music, all skating in one direction around a dance floor skating rink. To stop the crowd and the DJ from feeling nauseous Dusty's shows through the sound-system every 20 minutes or so that they should all turn round and skate the other way. It's different, energetic, and quite good for you apparently - so if you feel like an alternative night out then get on down to the Renaissance Rooms and enjoy the fun and frolics. Leaving Dusty to carry on her work I met my friend Chris and we made our way to Camden to meet George - in torrential rain! We got to the Proud Gallery about a quarter of an hour late and George had already gone in to avoid getting drenched, but he'd left my name on the door to avoid me paying! :) The place was rammed full of people enjoying the support bands and it took us a while to find George. Don't know how we missed him, as we found him looking resplendent and happily bopping to the music, in a great mood enjoying the bands. We went 'backstage' where John Themis was chatting with other support band members, and George's prison friend Terry was hanging out in style. Trying to actually have a conversation with George can be very difficult when he is out in public with his full make-up on. Even backstage at this event people (most of them drunk) we're stopping George and asking for photos - and George being George obliged every time. George met Kitty and Daisy from the band and they were the sweetest, down to earth, unaffected girls. Kitty, Daisy and Lewis are a band from London. They are all under the age of 19 and all very talented musically, each playing numerous instruments and creating music in a fresh rockabilly style. Lewis is quite a dish too. George explained to me that this gig was quite a seminal moment and Kitty Daisy and Lewis have every chance of becoming the next big thing. They already have a huge following in London and this was obvious by the crowd that had turned out that night. Find out more about Kitty Daisy and Lewis here! When the band took to the stage George seemed to come even more alive, dancing and bopping and clapping to the music. He loved it. Mike Nichol's and Jonny Slut joined us, and we all had a very good time, thank you. Afterwards we all stood on the terrace and chatted about the band, 100% Boy and some of the projects that George has lined up for the future, as well as laughing at a few 'in-jokes' that me and George have shared recently. George left with John Themis in John's little Smart Car, feigning on his semi-promise to come with us to Trannyshack. He preferred to go back to Hampstead for a cup of tea and to get his 'slap' off. Chris and I walked to Camden Tub station with George's friend Terry who is a quiet, caring man - so whatever his crime he's ok in my book. Leaving Terry at the tube we made our made to Madame JoJo's in soho, which is the venue for Trannyshack. Trannyshack, for those that have been living on mars, is Dusty's mega popular Wednesday night soho shin-dig for tranny's, drag queens, glamorous club-kids and anybody that wants to have a damn good time! Anyone fits in and it’s always such a completely enjoyable evening at Trannyshack. Dusty DJ's along with Lady Lloyd and Tasty Tim, and towards the end of the night they have weekly acts on-stage, which mainly consist of the resident Trannyshack Girls, and special guest 'stars'. This week 'Transisters' we're performing, who are an absolutely amazing drag trio, who's day job is performing as the Cagelles in the hit west-end musical La Cage Aux Folles, starring John Barrowman. 'Transisters' are brilliant, and who said that drag can't be clever? Dusty left early after she had hosted the show - working in clubs from 7:30am till nearly 3:00am had taken its toll, and poor old Dust what just a little bit worse for wear drink-wise! I was enjoying myself though so stayed on dancing until the early hours. Cut to the next evening.... George's guest appearance with David Hoyle. I met Chris outside the Royal Vauxhall Tavern (or RVT). The show was billed to start at 8:30, but we had the insider knowledge that George wouldn’t be on until 10:00 - so when we finally arrived at around 9:00 the place was packed to the rafters and all the George 'fans' were already in there front of house positions! Myself I don’t see the need to cram myself to the front of a crowd, especially at a small venue like the RVT, where you can get a really good view wherever you stand - even right at the back. Often you get a much better view and all-round enjoyment of the show from a bit further back. At the front all you see is up someone's nose and you get their double chins on any photo's you choose to take. When we arrived there was a rather good poet performing on stage. Gerry Potter is a scouse poet who discusses in his work the good and bad points of living as a gay man in the UK in the 21st century. Next on stage was David Hoyle himself. The title of these set of shows that David is doing at the RVT is called 'David Hoyle's Aural Assault'. I for one am a big fan of David and his humour. There may be many George fans who had never heard of David before he started working with George, but I've known David and his work for years through the UK gay scene, especially in London and Manchester. David's humour is often caustic, and most of the time political. He makes bold and brash statements about life in general, but especially gay life and the injustices that gay people STILL have to face each day. Some may find David a little too much for them to take. But David has a huge cult following, and often does shows like the one on Thursday night at the RVT. David is not a drag queen, or really a comedian. He is a performance artist who, although done with humour, like his work to be taken seriously. Unfortunately, and not saying too much about the situation, some of the fans didn’t really appreciate that it was David's show and continued chattering through David's performance. When David picked them up on this there answer was that they had come to see George, which really was the wrong thing to have said. Not wanting to dwell on this, it made for a very strange atmosphere in the crowd. When George came on stage at 10:00, although coming on to rapturous applause some of the atmosphere still lingered. Just before he was due on-stage there was a break in the performance and George came out of the stage door and stood at the back with friends Mike Nicholls, Jonny Slut and Christine Bateman. Rather annoyingly for him, me and other people who noticed, he was immediately plagued for photos with him and other fans. Quite why some people who see George frequently want to plague him to have there photo taken with him every time he's in the same room is beyond me, and it must aggravate George too. He almost immediately retreated back stage again. He courteously posed for the photos but made a break for freedom when he could so that he wasn't 'attacked' again. He did nod over when he saw me standing over the other side of the RVT, and I walked over and gave him a badge that Dusty had given me to give to him saying "You fucking old whore' on it. He wore it on stage after. When George came on stage at 10:00, although coming on to rapturous applause some of the atmosphere still lingered. George was professional and excellent as ever though, singing a calming version of the song "Nobody knows the trouble I've Seen' with John Themis accompanying him on guitar, and calling on the audience to sing along on the chorus. Then George and David performed the song 'Spoiling It For The Others'. After a brief chat with David after the song George left the stage. It was planned that George would be back on stage later to do some 'experimental' work with David, which is always part of David's show - but when David called out for George to come back on stage George had left the building and gone home. I spoke to George the next morning about the show and, without saying too much for fear of upsetting David or the fan(s) in question if they read this, the evening at the RVT didn’t really go as well as it could of done for George. Friday morning I got up telephoned George as he had invited me to accompany him to a grand photo shoot by Jean Baptiste Mondino for the New York Times. When I called George I got him out of bed. We arranged to meet at the photographer's studio in Kentish Town. I arrived and Kevin O'Dowd came out to greet me and told me that George was upstairs in Studio A, Kevin was going outside for a cigarette and a reality check. I went up to the studio and George was in make-up having his face done by Christine Bateman. I sat waiting for them to finish. The studio was buzzing, with other models getting ready, and people from the New York Times running around making sure everybody was in the right place at the right time. Also there to be photographed for the feature we're Princess Julia, Tasty Tim, Judy Blame and a host of other models all donning freakish clubbing gear. The shoot was an all-day thing and George kept getting the call to go to the front of the studio, where the almighty Mondino was there snapping away at the host of club land luminaries. The feature, which according to the editor of the New York Times whom I spoke to, has no set date but should be out at the end of October, was all about hierarchy in the UK club scene. George was the main person featured, and they interviewed him too. The photographs were amazing. I saw them being processed on Mondino's PC. There was a great deal of waiting around, which is par for the course at one of these fashion shoots apparently, but I was kept entertained by chatting to Kevin, and Christine and the others, and George when he wasn’t being called upon to appear in another photo. The idea of me being there was to do this report and also to interview George for a project that we're doing for 100% Boy. The interview didn’t happen though, as George was never around long enough. Not to worry though, as George has promised to do it at another time. Eventually, at around 4:00pm things started to wrap up. George cleaned of all the make-up and I had to dash off to pick my stuff up from Dusty's and get the train back to Torquay. I said goodbye to George with a kiss and a hug outside the studio and left. So... that’s about it from my dose of London. And quite an exciting dose it was too. George is in a very good place right now. He was cool, calm, and considering the fact that he still gets 'mobbed' when he's trying to enjoy himself, he's remarkably collected. He just jokes about it after the event. He's got loads of plans and ideas for the future, and some amazing offers have been coming in. Next week George is in the studio again, recording vocals for his forthcoming EP along with fado singer Ana Lains. He's also busy planning a special evening of song for which he is bringing over jazz singer Coby Koehl from New York at the end of October, and is waiting to announce a set of his own shows at the end of the year. No matter what the critic’s say George is still, after all that he's been through, a force to be reckoned with. He also has a great sense of humour, and a very kind heart. Thank you for a great few days boss! :) Stuey / 100% Boy / 06/09/09