Detroits Theatre Bizarre

 Recently i went out to Detroit to take part in a magical event called Theatre Bizarre, the initiation. I had never really heard of it, being from the west coast, but everyone that had, said it was a killer unbelievable event. So i was super excited as i left the rain of Seattle and boarded my plane to Detroit.
 I had never been to Detroit before, so i was excited to be going to a new city. Plus since the auto industry bust, i was interested to see how this once big city was doing. As i got off the plane and wandered to the terminal to meet my ride, i wondered what adventures lie in store for me. I was curious as to how Detroit would look like, having heard of its decline in recent years. As i exited the airport  and met my friend to drive where i was staying, i will say i was shocked at the difference between Seattle and Detroit. No, not the obvious location differences like tree's and landscape, but the city itself. Detroit is a city that feels like it is slowly dying, there were whole streets where not one person lived, and every house was boarded up or tagged. Driving through parts of the city there was building after building that was empty and derelict. Now was this the case all the way around, no. There were still nice parts of Detroit, where if walking around you could forget that a few streets down were empty buildings, and few stores or business's. But you couldn't tell if you were just driving through, as it seemed to really access these little gems, you had to drive through the areas that were empty. I will say though that the nice areas that i visited reminded me of the old time feel that i love. Old time brick buildings, with maple tree lined streets, where the colors of fall, the browns and dark greens covered the ground. The streets and yards were filled with falling leaves, and houses where someone had already gone out to rake a pile of leaves, only to find it full the next day with more.

 Now with that being said there seems to me to be a bit of a revival in the sense of the arts in Detroit. Theatre bizarre being one of those revival groups. Theatre bizarre i found is more than just an event but a whole group of young circus based performers, and artists. They have carved out a place in the middle of what looked like the worst part of Detroit and created their own little Circus and Vaudevillian home. Like something from a movie, driving up and around the actual theatre bizarre compound was amazing and awesome. It was nice to see something fantastic rise up from the ashes. From what i was told, normally this yearly event was held at there location, but since this was really an illegal place to hold it, this year they took advantage of the cities need for anyone to use their buildings, and they threw their event in Detroit's Masonic temple.
 Detroit's Masonic temple is the largest Masonic temple in the world, and a truly stunning place to hold an event such as this. The temple itself added to the overall feel and atmosphere of the event. The architecture of the building, and the layout was amazing and confusing all at once. There were several ways to get everywhere. There were secret back stairways to other rooms, and secret rooms where if you could find them, held awesome shows.

 The room that i worked with was the fistorium with Lady Pain and her dungeon. Which was one of 7 different themed areas. The event held live bands, flaming acts, costumes galore, Dj's, a huge variety of circus and vaudeville type acts, and roaming acts like the Detroit Party Band. This location was so big, that the 2400 people that made it, you could never tell. Any time i left my room to wander around, i always ended up lost, asking someone what floor i was on, or at least what room. Having been a regular burner, i am used to costumes and craziness, and this event lived up to that. Every single person was dressed to the nine in some Halloween style costume, hundreds of zombies, undead, bondage, hello kitty vikings, stilt walkers, vampires, robots, and fallen angels to name just a few of the costumes i saw. Being someone who loves costumes, i was very impressed at the level of costumes and time people put into them that i saw at this event. Which made wandering around so much more fun, and also added to the level of confusion of where i was at the moment. I would walk up one level of stairs but really still be on the same floor, then walked through a door, then a room, then down two flights, through another room, up one flight, and somehow magically end up somewhere i wasn't expecting. I am sure mostly this had to do with me just so in awe of the event that i wasn't paying attention to where i was walking, but made for a gloriously awesome adventure of being lost. Its funny that i would wander around, taking in the sights, and acts and randomly without knowing i would walk up a flight of stairs, and see devils and bondage racks, and knew i was home(well back at the room where my stuff was).
 In the course of the night after getting the music setup and running, and wandering around i took part in two separate piercing style rituals. One where lady pain all dressed in virginal white, laid on the alter and with fallen angels, and mistress's surrounding her had her nipples pierced, by her dark and alluring piercer in her black cloak. The second ritual involved myself dressed in hot pants, black fur boots and large black angel wings proceeded to add extra feathers in the form of feathers attached to long needles that were pierced to me. Now i am an experienced piercee....as in, i have gotten a lot of stuff pierced in my time. So i was excited to be getting pierced again after so many years of not having anything done due to having nothing left that i wanted to get pierced. As i walked out in the procession with the seductive piercer in her black cloak and i asked for someone to hold one of my arms, this sweet woman, looked at me and asked me if i was OK with getting pierced. I guess being in a dungeon i could see where it might be something forced on me....but of course this was not the case, and i was happily ready to although temporary be pierced with additional feathers.
 Another awesome group of local burners who somehow managed to stand out in a sea of undead, and dark denizens of the night were dressed up in bright pink viking gear. They were the Hello Kitty Vikings, and along with there pink attire, light up pink viking helmets, and pink weapons, they attached a cardboard viking ship, so that when they were all together and the ship was attached they looked like a pink viking vessel sailing through a sea of black. I loved the fact that these were the people i went to the event with, and i loved that they were dressed in much more burner style attire then everyone else. In an event full of all sorts of dark and scary costumes, from zombies, to mass murderers to mexican undead, to steam punk, to robots, these pink denizens of the night stood out. I do not think i saw anyone else at the whole event as bright and colorful as this group. They stood out in every room the entered.

 

The Hello Kitty Viking Ship!!

Hello Kitty Vikings!

 In the end as i boarded my plane back to Seattle, completely high on such an awesome event, i went back to Seattle with a new found appreciation for the people and artists of Detroit. Having no expectations for any of it, i was happily impressed by the people, groups, art, and friendliness of the people of Detroit. This is one event that i will be a sounding board for here in Seattle, and somehow i will for sure make it back to the next Theatre bizarre event.



My Costume!!