Monday, June 11, 2018

Tales From the Turntable: Hold Me Closer MAGIC DANCER

I don't even know that words could ever pay a proper tribute to him. We saw him nearly every Tuesday during the summer of 2002 -- Best. Summer. EVER! We watched him perform with passion. We tried to figure him out. We didn't even know his name. So we gave him one...

MAGIC DANCER

White shirt. Beer bottle. Jeans. Passion.
Jellyrolls was the place to spot this mystery man. Tuesday was Cast Member night, and since we were there every week and so was he, it would be a safe assumption that he was also a Cast Member. But where? Was he an intern? Was he American? Was he straight? These are all questions we had.

His natural habitat inside of Jellyrolls (a dueling pianos bar you'll definitely hear and see more of in my blog!) was up front right by the stage. One could find him with a bottle of beer in his hand, a collared shirt, perfectly styled hair... and full blown musical passion in his performances.

He was not one of the paid entertainers.

He was just like us... but oh my gosh did he sing his heart out! His face was feeling each emotion in the songs. He had his dance move that I bet you all of us Kali kids could still do without missing a beat. And what was his favorite song?  Brace yourself for the hilarity of it ...



Train. Drops of Jupiter. WHAT?!?

See the feeling in that? Pretty sure this is Drops of Jupiter!
I feel like our crew overall HATED this song... but now I get sooooo dang sentimental when I hear it. It's an awful song, right?!? But I hear it and am immediately transported to sweaty, drunken nights in our favorite place... watching Magic Dancer pour his heart out to it. He would face the rest of the guests and get so into it, it's like he really did think it was HIS song and HE was the reason we were all there. He was legendary.

But such a mystery! I swear the nights he was there we couldn't take our eyes off of him. I mean he really was pretty good looking. He seemed ready to make his big break. Maybe he did!? Who knows.

I recall one night in particular where we were so confused while watching him. Did he like dudes? Was he into girls? What was his taste?? Was it everyone?

Shawn and I - the night of our mission
So Shawn and I decided to put it to a test! 

Both of us being into guys, we figured this was our mission. We were taking one for the team? Or maybe we both just HAD to get close to this person we had been obsessing over all summer. Magic Dancer was in between our tables (front row center, as always!) and the stairs to get to the bathrooms and bar. With a slow, deliberate walk with made our way toward him. Once we were at him we split up. One of us on each side. We would pathetically each try to hit on him and see what happens. 

We did and He did! After our pass by the first time, and the return to our table we were even confused. Instead of us hitting on him it was almost like Magic Dancer nearly made the moves on BOTH Shawn and I! Mission FAIL!

Well played, Magic Dancer.

Magic Dancer wins. We still reminisce about him. We still wonder about him. We never saw him after that epic summer. I fully expected to see him on the big screen or singing to a stadium full of people some day. 

Until then he will always be a Jellyrolls legend!

Just for fun, here's a video of Jellyrolls. We were almost always front row, dead center. Magic Dancer would be to our right by the stage facing us. Long Live MD!


ºoº See ya real soon!

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