“You’re about to enter an urban environment,” says Jack Spratt. “All sorts of felonious mishaps may occur.”
DJ Poppa and Big Freedia
With that, he flicks a helmet visor down and stalks off into the alley. The lanky host of Poppa’s Party House—the Sunday night bounce party at House of Blues—sports a helmet decorated with stickers of hundred dollar bills, large sneakers with socks pulled over the toes, and a puffy vest.
“OffBeat, OffBeat, coming through!” he cries, parting the crowd like a swimmer through pool water. One of the onlookers is Big Freedia, who leans on the bar with her elbows and stares at Spratt.
As host, Spratt is responsible for pumping up the crowd. He sprints between the stage and the audience. Onstage, he does everything he can think of to entertain, including pulling this writer onstage to bounce. His skits play on the House of Blues TV screens. Tonight’s involves Spratt wearing a sombrero.
Meanwhile, DJ Poppa keeps a low profile behind his setup on stage. His mixes feature the hammering bounce beat, which he controls over a computer and CDJs. Except for mixing beats, he remains silent.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2MXAJ12toc[/youtube]
One woman pulls her white cowboy hat down tight so it doesn’t fly off, slaps her hands on the ground, and pops her ass up-and-down in the air. Her butt cheeks roll, slipping out of her skintight booty shorts and slapping rapidly to the breakneck beat.
Big Freedia climbs onstage. She drops her enormous purse to the floor and calmly takes a mic. Everything about her is huge—her jeans, her construction boots, her stature, and most of all, her voice.
The instant her voice booms over the speakers, the entire crowd erupts into frenzied cheers and raised arms. Sissy Nobby joins her and the crowd goes even more nuts. People hoist merchandise shirts in the air with Big Freedia’s name on them. A call-and-response follows—“Uh-oh,” booms Big Freedia. “Uh-oh,” repeats the crowd. A man overcome with joy latches onto the fence, facing Big Freedia with a wide smile. He grinds the fence, rocking his hips like a porn star, his tongue flickering inches out of his mouth. While no one else has their tongue that far out of their mouth, everyone bounces to the frantic beats, responding to Big Freedia’s and Sissy Nobby’s calls and singing along to choruses.
At the end of her performance, Big Freedia passes off the mic as calmly as she picked it up, quietly retrieves her purse, and exits.
Spratt picks up where she left off; as host, he keeps the party moving. The crowd isn’t ready to settle down—after all, it’s only 2 a.m. on a Sunday night.
Poppa’s House Party is every Sunday night at House of Blues. Doors open at 11:30 p.m. and the show starts at midnight. Tickets are $21 for men, $11 for women, and $40 for VIP.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul-8Tju6n1Q[/youtube]
