Dishing with Mark & Carrie September 2, 2010

Battle of the Bands
For the past couple months every Thursday there have been bands battling it out at The Ritz Ybor, narrowing it down to the top 5 finalists. The bands came together for the final throw down. Just who will be the top band winner of $500 cash and a booking as the opening act for a major band at The Ritz? The final 5 were: Anew, 10th Concession, Orange Hour, Mighty Mongo and Shake Mode. The judging was based on audience applause. You can just imagine the excitement in the air with passionate fans of the top 5 bands all in one huge room!

Battle of the Bands

For the past couple months every Thursday there have been bands battling it out at The Ritz Ybor, narrowing it down to the top 5 finalists. The bands came together for the final throw down. Just who will be the top band winner of $500 cash and a booking as the opening act for a major band at The Ritz? The final 5 were: Anew, 10th Concession, Orange Hour, Mighty Mongo and Shake Mode. The judging was based on audience applause. You can just imagine the excitement in the air with passionate fans of the top 5 bands all in one huge room! All five deserved to be winners. Congratulations to the winner, Mighty Mongo (MightyMongo.com)! Thank you to Okie and The Ritz Ybor for this very successful event!

The rain poured all day in Ybor City but then stopped to let the Imperial Council of Prince Hall Shriners have their night parade with beautiful skies after their 5 day, 18,000 + attendee convention in Tampa. The streets and restaurants were full of people on a Wednesday night. Floats, bands and of course the clowns came to cheer up and amuse the crowds. 

Oh what a night! Steam Fridays was living up to their name in a big way! It was very Steam-y! #1 VJ/DJ in Tampa Bay Greg Anderson was up in the booth with international circuit club sensation DJ Johnny Vicious! It just doesn’t get any better than this! To complement the music was an all star show cast under the direction of Toby Rox! There was even an amateur strip/dance contest on the 3rd floor and Ybor City Cigar Smoking on the balcony overlooking 7th Ave.! The party was so huge it spilled out into the streets and carried on at New York New York too! Wow, what a night!

Producer/director/artist/dancer/performer and nice guy Michael Dixon did it again by creating one of the most impressive productions we have ever seen, “The Evolution of Drag REVAMPED.” This is the fourth in the production. For all lovers of drag illusion this is pure eye candy and an exciting production! The 3 hour show was so very entertaining that the time blew by fast! The lineup included: Out of Egypt, Creative Queens, Hollywood, Vegas and Beyond, Broadway Babes, Trantastic, The History of GaYBOR, Crowns and Gowns and the Finale. There is a HUGE difference between productions like this and drag pageants. While we greatly enjoy both, at a pageant you have fans and tension. At a production it is all pure love of the art! This is a must do event for everybody! Here is the who’s who list of entertainers: Daphne Ferraro, Addison Taylor, April Fresh, Sasha Santiago, Jocelyn Summers, Chi Chi La Lique, Crystle Chambers, Diabolique, Melanie Minyon, Temptation, Aspen Love, Felicity Lane, Esme Russell and Desiree DeMornay.