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Amateur Youth (AKA Lisa Orth) can be contacted HERE for booking inquiries
residencies:
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Cherry: The 4th Saturday of every month at Re-bar
High Five : Tuesdays at The War Room
Amateur Youth's Hip Hop Party : The 2nd Friday of every month at The Wildrose
Le Freak: The 5th Saturday of any month at The Wildrose
All the ladies love Yo Majesty.
Based on the YouTube footage I watched of Yo Majesty electrifying audiences
in Austin, Texas, at this year's SXSW festival, I figured their appearance
at Chop Suey last Saturday would be a must-see. Sure enough, I was glad I
didn't pass this one up, because these badass butches are easily some of the
most riveting live performers I've seen all year.
The crowd may have been smaller than the Orlando, Fla.–based hip-hop
outfit deserved, but thanks in part to the promotional efforts and
libidinous opening set by Lisa Orth (aka DJ Amateur Youth), the night was
so sweaty, enthusiastic, and demonically dance-driven that the club felt fuller
than it actually was. Dance duo Team Gina were front and center when
MCs Shunda K. and Jwl B. took the stage along with producer/beatmaker David
Alexander. Looking fiercely beautiful and sounding aggressive, the brash pair
dropped smart, hilarious, and powerful rhymes about their "kryptonite
pussies" and incited the crowd to chant along to their most recognizable
cut, "Club Action." Über-babe Shunda K. kept her assets tucked
tightly into her ribbed, white tank top. But as anticipated, Jwl B. had no
problem going topless for much of the set, a move that felt less like a novelty
stunt and more like a natural expression of their ribald and fearless attitude.
Chatting backstage afterward with a Courvoisier and cranberry in her hand,
Shunda filled me in on their latest coup, signing with Domino Records, while
Jwl discussed the motivation that makes them such a gorgeous force to be reckoned
with. "We really just want to have a good time, and we're blessed to
have these gifts. It really is just about being positive."
Date,
Place, Time - The Stranger
Date: Sat Feb 5
Place: The Eagle, 314 E Pike St
Time: 11 pm
If I could invest
in a new bar venture, I'd aim (cough) straight for the Gen X/Y hipster lesbian
contingent, the very crowd that is quite literally packing the Eagle to the
rafters this evening. Baby dykes of every stripe--from cherub-faced budding
butches to svelte, inky-haired femmes--are streaming through the door to "Muscle,"
the club's monthly DJ night anchored by the mixing skills of Pink Robot proprietress
Lisa Orth (DJ Amateur Youth) and Stranger
columnist Kurt Reighley. After paying a highly reasonable cover charge of
$3 and checking my coat with Paul (a man who could easily qualify as the friendliest
doorman in the city), I order a vodka soda from the bar and make my way upstairs
to check out the DJ booth. Orth is an inspirational spaz
of a girl, bouncing manically next to her turntables and enjoying the smooth,
crowd-pleasing results of seguing from Black Sabbath into Public Image Limited.
She has no shortage of fans and the area surrounding the booth is growing
prohibitively crowded. I slink downstairs, past the flickering images of a
Scissor Sisters' DVD projected on the wall and head for the back bar, a partially
covered outdoor area. Waiting in line for a second drink proves highly fruitful
in the eavesdropping department; I hear a handful of folks reminiscing about
the days when the floor of this back bar was covered in gravel, essentially
creating an aesthetic comparable to a cat box. Suddenly heads swivel in unison
to admire the entry of a dazzling couple, one sporting Marlene Dietrich-esque
drag accented with a textbook-perfect pencil mustache, the other tricked out
in resplendent drag-pimp style, complete with walking cane and a bright-blue
coif. Someone needs to tap into this market pronto. HANNAH LEVIN
1/19/2006
- Stranger Suggests
LICK W/DJS NICE JEWISH BOY, MASTER STAN, FAGOLIS, SAPPHO, LISA
ORTH, MATHMATIX
(Chop Suey) The lusty and debauched ambience of Lick is always a dirty pleasure,
but this month's installment has a few added incentives. The Gossip's Master
Stan is returning to the decks after a long absence and the freakishly creative
Lisa Orth (aka Amateur Youth) will also
be on hand to lubricate the lascivious dance moves of the hard-drinking crowd.
The evening also marks the Lick debut of newcomer DJ Mathmatix, a recent East
Coast transplant who has already attracted a following, thanks to her stellar
sets at Fascinator and Cherry earlier this month. HANNAH LEVIN
2/5/2005
- Stranger Suggests
Muscle (DJ NIGHT)
We're spoiled rotten with voracious vinyl hounds in Seattle. Although you
may already be hip to Muscle--the monthly no wave, '80s, electro, hiphop,
etc. night for "queers of all kinds"--it's always good to remind
people how insanely smart and sexy the music selection gets, turning every
corner into a dance floor set on "grind." With DJs Amateur
Youth and El Toro.
JENNIFER MAERZ
Live
Wire - The Stranger May 6, 2004
From there, it was over to the Comet to see the elders of Golden
Dawn before their Grateful Dead bar-rock jams scared me down the street to
the monthly Muscle night, where DJs El Toro and Amateur
Youth were jamming the dance floor with cuts from Missy Elliott,
the Pointer Sisters, LCD Soundsystem, Jay-Z, and the Rapture, while a gyrating
crowd of weekend hedonists lapped up hiphop and hipster tracks with equal
enthusiasm. It was a more enthusiastic reception for the Rapture than their
show at the Showbox earlier in the week; one friend aptly described that live
performance as having been like "watching laser Wang Chung." JENNIFER
MAERZ
5/1/2004
- Stranger Suggests
MUSCLE
Queer boys, queer girls, and their queer friends (whether or not that term
applies to their sexuality) have a dance floor to call their own as DJ El
Toro (the wonderful Stranger scribe also known as Kurt B. Reighley) and Amateur
Youth throw down rock, hiphop, electro, no wave, and that one song
you've been dying to hear out in a club. You know the one, it's got that cool
beat and that one cool-looking record-store clerk told you about it? Whatever.
Sounds like a great way to both begin and end the night. JENNIFER MAERZ
Lick
My Cherry: Dyke Nights Take Off (Tablet Magazine May 2005)
Words: Jeanna Barrett
Image: Renee Teeley
Lesbians are
taking over Seattle. Hot lesbian-specific nights are springing up all over
the city, including two new nights by the sexy names of Cherry and LICK. Ladies,
look no further for cheap drink specials and an opportunity to get your freak
on.
Every
second Friday of the month The War Room hosts Cherry, with guest DJs that
rotate every month, dancers from The Von Hasselhoff Troupe and sexy visuals
from Hotsy Totsy for just six bucks. Lisa Orth, (also known
as DJ Amateur Youth) the creator of Cherry, has also put
on other lesbian nights in Seattle including Makeout at The Baltic Room and
Vibrator at the Seattle Eagle.
Orth created Cherry partially because she said she was tired of “all
the girls coming to my place and drinking all my booze,” and partially
because she feels it’s important for Seattle to have a thriving lesbian
bar scene. Cherry is Orth’s way of kicking up the scene and so far the
first two nights have been a success. “The War Room was packed with
the hottest girls in Seattle,” Orth enthused. “I couldn’t
have asked for more. I’m still sweating from the heat [the girls] kicked
up.”
Cherry is held at the new and swanky bar that all of Seattle is talking about, The War Room, and Orth thinks that this contributes to the success of Cherry. “[The War Room is] on the Hill and the ladies won’t have to drive home drunk,” she said. “They can have a convenient excuse for crashing on the couch at some cutie’s place. There’s enough room for the sweaty masses to dance, as well as a stage for live acts. To top it all off, the rooftop is an awesome place to hang out on those hot summer nights!”
LICK also offers dancing and live acts each month at Chop Suey. Shannon Carroll, the creator of LICK said that the goal of LICK is to focus on showcasing Seattle’s lesbian and transsexual DJs. The night has four resident DJs with guest DJs each month spinning anything from hip-hop to ‘80s tunes. The night also includes visual treats, including dancers behind a screen who are projected on the dance floor and unique theatrical lighting. “Lesbians can get from LICK a largely diverse but friendly atmosphere, a 40-ouncer [of beer] for cheap, a mere three dollar cover and a guaranteed good time,” Carroll explains.
Both nights are open to all queer and queer-friendly people and are not just for lesbians. “Lesbians, fags, gender queers, bisexuals, trannies, queer-supportive straight people, however you want to define yourselves,” Orth said. “Just because the night is put on by lesbians for lesbians don’t mean we are choosing to be sexually segregationist or exclusive. Fuck that. Whoever you are, if you want to come out and party with us, you are most wanted and welcomed.”
Cherry is every second Friday of the month at the War Room, 722 E Pike Street and Lick happens monthly at Chop Suey, 1325 E Madison.
Girls'
Night Out - The Stranger (Mar 3 - Mar 9, 2005)
Lesbian Club Night Promoters Have Created a Booming Nightlife Scene for Seattle
Dykes
BY AMY JENNIGES
At
11:00 p.m. on a recent Saturday, nearly 200 people were lined up outside a
brick warehouse in SoDo. A cab pulled up, and three young men tumbled out.
"Is it 21 and up?" one of the guys asked, trying to determine if
they could get in. A girl near the end of the line giggled, and gestured to
the people ahead of her. "It's women only," she said with a smile.
Her girlfriend stepped forward to put her arm around her, and the boys hopped
back in their cab to find another place to party.
The ladies were in line for the February 19 Girl4GIRL event, a monthly party for women. After five years at various venues, most recently Pioneer Square's Catwalk, Girl4GIRL owner Chris Chappon decided to take the show to a bigger space--the monthly crowds were topping 400 women.
Chappon blew away that record last month at Girl4GIRL's debut at the Premier's First Avenue space. By midnight, Chappon--a 33- year-old former software sales manager, who lives on the Eastside with her dog--had jumped on stage, between DJ Ricki Leigh and a go-go dancer, to make an announcement to the hundreds of women dancing at her feet. Some of them wore purple glow-in-the dark bracelets, indicating their single status. Others sat up in the quieter bar, chatting over drinks. "One THOUSAND women," she yelled into the microphone. "It's the Girl4GIRL revolution!"
Chappon's event--which she's been running since early 2004, taking over for founder Michelle Waye, who'd originally plucked Chappon from the crowd to dance--isn't the only girls' night enjoying big success these days. On Pike Street at the Eagle, usually a gay men's bar, "dykes and their friends" take over the loud dark bar once a month on the third Tuesday for Vibrator. Lines are out the door for that event too, says organizer Lisa Orth-- who DJs as Amateur Youth, while cohort Hannah Blilie spins as Master Stan. Inside, lesbians take advantage of the lack of a cover charge, and pack the narrow, dive-y bar. Orth says the Eagle's usual role as a men's leather bar makes Vibrator unique: "The energy of what happens there the rest of the month makes Vibrator Vibrator," she says. "The lesbians are all acting like they're fucking fags. There's a lot of naughtiness going on."
And on March 10, a third monthly lesbian night will debut at Chop Suey on East Madison Street. Shannon Carroll, a gay guy who helps put on the popular Comeback night at Chop Suey, is starting up Lick--the answer to Comeback's largely male crowd. "We needed something that had more of a femme vibe or more of a tranny vibe," says Carroll, who plans to bring in lesbian and tranny DJs--the first event will feature DJ Sappho, from Portland, and Anna Oxygen--and decorate the club with posters of women. There'll be no cover charge before 10:00 p.m., and then it's three bucks. Carroll is excited to add another option to the recent resurgence of lesbian entertainment. "I was loving Vibrator, but it's too crowded," Carroll says. That crowd at Vibrator, however, helped pave the way for a new event, Orth points out. "The new nights that are springing up have to do with the ongoing success of the other nights."
Beyond those three events, lesbians have also taken over R Place lately--what used to be a male-dominated gay bar, has now balanced out, with lesbians swarming the dance floor on the weekends. "There are more women going there for sure," says Carla Schricker, AKA Queen Lucky, who DJs at R Place on Friday nights. "Women want to go out and feel sexy and naughty and pick up each other." Even Element, a new club near the Seattle Center, is becoming a lesbian hot spot, with girls dominating a back dance floor. Not long ago, the Wild Rose was just about the only lesbian social scene in town. Now, it looks like lesbians are taking over Seattle, one club at a time. "
One thousand fifty-one," women attended Girl4GIRL, says a smiling Chappon a few days later, over drinks at the Deluxe on Broadway Avenue. She was expecting four to six hundred, like past months. "I did not expect 1,000. I was on cloud nine. I'm still on cloud nine!" That many woman, she says, means "those are hundreds of new faces we'd never seen before." (Many of those faces wrote in after the party, to say thanks: "Who needs L.A. or N.Y.? The best party is in Seattle now!," wrote one woman.) The success of February's event has Chappon thinking bigger than that party--a night already sponsored by Showtime's lesbian drama The L Word, Curve magazine, and Tina Turner. She's aiming for 2,000 women by June's Pride event--Chappon's already booked DJ Shortee, known for lighting her records on fire--plus themed events like a sports night timed with the Seattle Storm's season opener, or drag king contests. Chappon is calling March's Girl4GIRL BOIGIRL. "It's going to be wild," she says, explaining her plans. Every once in a while during our conversation she stops to jot down new ideas (like a "bisexual couch," or bracelets for those not-so-single, but open to having fun with new people). "You have to give them what they want, fill that need, and truly bring it. Top performers, top DJs--and be willing to spend money to fund your passion."
At $10, Girl4GIRL is the priciest of the monthly events, though Chappon points out that the move to the Premier tripled her expenses, and she didn't raise the cover charge (when she first took over the event last year, she couldn't always afford to pay her rent, but kept the night going, she says). Chappon's been approached to host Girl4GIRL more than once a month, but so far she's refusing. "Women only commit to going once a month," and she doesn't want to dilute her crowd. Instead, she wants her third Saturday to be "the number one monthly event in the Northwest."
Monthly dyke nights at Seattle bars and clubs go way back, says Vibrator's Lisa Orth. She used to be a part of monthly "Makeout!" parties at the Baltic Room and Hot Box at ARO.space. Re-bar's long-running Pandora's Box, which takes place on the last Saturday of every month--as it has for over a decade--is another model for Seattle's currently thriving dyke party scene. "We have something like 700 people coming through," all night says Schricker. "A lot of these ladies, I don't even know where they come from!"
All the different events--Girl4GIRL has a crowd aged 21 to around 61, and features danceable pop hits mixed with some hiphop, whereas Vibrator caters to a younger Capitol Hill crowd, with everything from "old school dance/rock" to "modern indie shit," Orth says-- plus the surreptitious takeovers at places like R Place or Element, currently offer enough variety to keep local lesbians busy. "I'm glad there's all these different venues to go to," Orth says. Chappon agrees: "I welcome competition," she says with a grin.