Even before the show starts, I feel a real sense of history about the night. And it’s not just because Tingel Tangel Club is celebrating its third anniversary of producing cutting-edge cabaret in San Francisco. It feels much bigger than that.
Walking down the steps into Cafe du Nord tonight is like walking back in time – back to a time when homos and homo sympathizers were underground. Before it was OK to walk the Castro wearing nothing but a cock ring and sneakers.
When the really cool shit was happening below street level, away from the mainstream clubs. In short, a time in San Francisco’s gay history that I only read about, but whose descriptions lured me away from my stuffy East Coast town.
The room is filled with an odd, but beautiful mixture of people. There are the old fags dressed in black tie garb, girls in crinoline dresses, and leather daddies in high-waisted jeans and d-ringed harnesses. Even though I didn’t get the memo about dressing up, it’s such a diverse group of folks that in my shorts, boots, and button-down cowboy shirt, I don’t feel out of place. It’s an unusually hot night, and the only real dress code is skin.
The sense of legend is only exaggerated by the space itself. I always thought Cafe du Nord felt a little like the basement at CBGB’s. While Patti Smith won’t be spitting heartbreaking poetry from the stage tonight, a bejeweled Taylor Mac will sing about love and loss from his lipstick-encrusted mouth – and it will break my heart.
It helps that the venue where Tingel Tangel Club has been for more than a year used to be a speakeasy. While tonight’s special is a whiskey sour (which I enjoy a few too many of), it could very well be absinthe or bathtub gin. Cafe du Nord was a meeting place for secret societies, and tonight I feel like I’m a part of one.
On the edge of the room, in a tight T-shirt and skinny jeans, talking to a DJ and a drag queen, is Earl Dax, the maestro of it all. Dax started Tingel Tangel Club three years ago as a spin off to his Weimar New York show, a theatrical cabaret.
Dax describes himself as a curator and producer, but he tells me he no longer objects to the term “Downtown Impresario.” People I know who have worked for him call him a perfectionist. But when I see Dax across the room, he looks unassuming and surprisingly young for a person who is curating sold-out performances on two coasts, organizing a plethora of parties (most recently, Pussy Faggot! in New York), and trying to bring together an often disparate community of musicians, drag queens, and performances artists.
Tingel Tangel Club is held two or three times a year in San Francisco, and even though I’m a regular at homo art events, this one was slightly off my radar. It’s less of a gay club scene and more of an avant-garde performance, bringing in artists from all over the country. Tingel Tangel Club began in New York City at Glasslands. It made the jump to San Francisco at the invitation of Emmanuelle Chiche, the owner of the Bubble Lounge, where the first few Tingel Tangel Club nights were held. Dax relished in the tension between straight Nob Hill couples and local homos who had ventured off the beaten path to see the show. It’s finally found its home, here at Cafe du Nord.
Tonight’s lineup is a perfect Dax blend. The show opens with Uni and her Ukulele, a petite girl in a blue dress and blond cherubic curls. She was in front of me in line and I overheard someone comment that she looked like a little cupcake. “Ooh, I just want to eat you up,” squealed the girl. I agree; she is adorable. Uni whales on the uke like a metal rocker shredding the guitar, and her rendition of Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” is more layered than the original, and when she asks us to sing along, I gladly join in.
Then there’s Orlando Infinito, a Tijuana gay boy with a voice like Sade. He also covers Amy Winehouse as well as his own love songs that make the men in the audience clutch their hairy bear chests. And when I see these leather daddies melt, it makes me giddy for San Francisco, a city where, well, leather daddies publicly melt at the sound of sweet twinks with girly voices.
And then there are the crowd favorites – Taylor Mac, who brought me to tears with one song. He too rocks ukulele, and after tonight I’m a fan of the tiny instrument, or at least the performers who play it. Taylor Mac sang only one song (I’m guessing because the show was running behind schedule), but one was enough to make me a devotee. I’m making plans to see his show, The Lily’s Revenge at the Magic Theater ( magictheater.org) later this month.
Finally, there’s Ann Magnuson. She’s clearly who most of the crowd – or at least the older gay men – have come to see. She regales us with stories and songs about making out with David Bowie in The Hungerand how she got to kiss him “take after take after glorious take.” There’s a collective sigh from the audience. It turns out gays, dykes, and straight folks all lust after Bowie. Finally, something (besides Tingel Tangel Club) we can all agree on.
Even three hours into the show, after the Elton John-like performance solo and the all-male band who writes kitschy pieces about S&M have performed, the crowd is still eager to hear more. I’m on my third whiskey sour and feel like I could stay here all night.
Dax is still running around, setting up the merch table, chatting with the performers, and adjusting host Hecklina’s dress. And even though San Francisco is only Dax’s part-time residence, he seems at home here. I think that’s because for him (and maybe all of us here) it’s not about location, it’s about community. And Dax’s community, which he describes as “the Queer Diaspora,” is still milling about the speakeasy, relishing in our secret society.
Want to take part in Dax’s world? Tingel Tangel Club is held two or three times a year at Cafe du Nord. Like any secret society, you have to keep your ear to the ground to find out when the next performance is. Like Tingel Tangel on Facebook for info, or ask any drag queen – she’ll likely be planning to attend. Need a Taylor Mac fix before then? His play, The Lily’s Revenge, runs until May 22nd at the Magic Theater.