Retro*Grade

**Peace to Mireya Acierto for shooting this event**

So there's this one celebrity fashion designer you may have heard of... She goes by the name of Kesh. One day we checked out her blog ((therealkesh.blogspot.com)) and read "CHICAGO 2NIGHT!!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO COME AND SEE YOU CHICAGO :D"...but at the time she didn't say the exact location and the time, so we were like "where the fuck...when the fuck?!"

Later that day we stopped at a rack sale and ran into our girl Colleen from Heroine Chic ((her belt buckles R.O.C.K...go grab yours now at the Macy's on State St. Chi-IL)). So anyway, Colleen was at the rack sale showcasing her merch when cosmically a deck of flyers appeared to us on her table that read "THE HOLLYWOOD EXPERIENCE...SOUNDTRACK BY DJ JOURNEY (LA) AND KESH (LONDON) @ TABU ULTRALOUNGE"... We were like "wow that's crazy...now we know where the fuck and when the fuck!"

Irena, Eric ((Siver Room)) & Colleen on politic status

So after some small talk we discovered that Colleen was actually a part of the whole "Hollywood Experience" event, along with her girl Dana of Concrete Runway ((stylist/TV show producer...the girl does her thing)) Of course when we found that out, we had a suggestion for "a really hot group from Chicago who could rock the runway"... Kink Not? :D

The H.N.I.C.

Without a question we were on ten after being added to the bill! But because this was a last-minute decision, we ended up having to lug our own sound equipment to the spot. Good thing we got there extra early that nite because we had to jimmy-rig our whole sound system just so muff-occurs could hear us. But once all the fuckry was over of having to run all over downtown looking for extension cords and adapter plugs, the crowd started trickling in.







Dana introduced us to DJ Journey ((Chitown native gone La La)) and we soon found that it was actually a re-introduction. He remembered us from a previous band project...but so much time had passed since then, he was sleep on "Kinky Notti". But as soon as we described our new sound to him, he was totally down for the mission.



Kesh was first on the wons-&-toos while we pulled together a game plan with Journey and Dana. Then somebody said that we should put Kinky Notti on first to kick off DJ Journey's set,right before the fashion show...the rest is history. Mission complete!

The "live mannequins" were amazing! Tres Belle Vintage put their foot in it...((super-hip stylists/designers with a vintage line)). The Life Askew added their touches with a tight, ready-to-wear clothing line ((totally loving the new line, btw!))

The Tre Belle Crew

Two dudes from "The Life Askew" crew

For fashion we stand

So this was the real kicker-- just as things were warming up, Dana had to shut the music off and make an announcement. Turns out the police ordered the venue to shut down the party due to a suspension or some shit. The whole party was at a complete standstill. We were all standing around, mouths hanging open like "get the fuck outa here!" Luckily it all turned out to be a misunderstanding. So you know after that, muff-occurs were really ready to celebrate...Tshurhad Chivas grabbed the mic and yelled out "All ya'll who thought yall wasn't tryna dance before got a second chance now to get get yo ass out here on this dancefloor!" Somehow that whole situation made the party more on bone!

Don't faint Dana... the party's still jumping!

We only performed one song (Nasty Nasty) just as planned and plotted...just enough to hype the crowd before the crazy-80's fashion show began. The dance floor thickened up as we were taken to Hollywood...DJ Journey-style. KINK NOT?


Part II...Kesh's last nite in Chitown ended up at the "I Love Haters show" at Sub-T. This shoulda been a whole 'nother posting, but we don't really feel like creating a new one ((shit takes 4ever!!)) But anyway, this was a great nite becuase we got out to see some of our peeps rock the mic for a change. ((Crazy Hotness!!))

There were a ton of peeps on this bill, but we only saw Mic Terror,
Million Dollar Mano, Kid Static + Yea Big, Shala, and
Hollywood Holt ((his name need not be mentioned on the flyer because...

He got his own flyer, Bitches!

Dropping some a dat new hot shit

These catz literally worked it out on the mic!

HIIIIOOOOOOO!!!!!

The End…

Bar Louie Blizzard

So this one time we all headed to the Bar Louie in Hyde Park for a lil group "pow wow" over veggie burgers. It was freezing cold and we couldn't find parking anywhere around the spot, so HaveMax & Chae went inside while "Chivalrious Chivas" proceeded to park the car another two or three blocks away from the bar.

It went for bad all of a sudden and that's when we witnessed what we swear was the most insane snowstorm in Chicago weather history! No, but really- how can it start off at 40-degrees and then drop to 20-below zero (w/windchill factor) all in one day? The storm was at full throttle by the time we finished dinner, but all our dumasses decided to still ruff it and run to go get the car through the snowstorm...

Now don't forget that Kinky Notti is from the Chi, so please believe we've all seen our share of blizzards, but this storm was a fucking beast...The wind blew so strong, the snowflakes damn near flew horizontally! Anyway, as we were running to the car, we whipped the camera out for some blizzard shots just for shits-n-giggles.

The two-block dash to the car started out all cute and fun

And then it got so crazy, all we could do was scream and run!

For a sec the storm got too wild to even play around in. Have Max and Chae had to run and seek shelter in a condo lobby while Chiv ran the rest of the way to the car. The doorman didn't even care that we didn't live in the building... he ruled! He actually helped us crack jokes on a lady and her dog who got blown all the way up the street!

Which one would you choose? Shelter or the car?

Chiv Rock after the fastest
"brush the snow off the car maneuver" in history

This looks like the eye of the storm in comparison to what we faced that nite

AYo "Tshaheed" take us the funk outa here...