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Not with a bang, but a whimper
By Daniel | March 22, 2009
It’s interesting of all the blog entries I’ve written, that the one that’s gotten the most hits ever was about Cali promoter of Big Boogie Nights BBW parties Darren Battle a/k/a DJ Zulu. It also brought out several BBWs who commented on his “use of women and manipulations” and calling him “a liar of mass proportions”.
A promoter’s job is to hype. The press and PR Darren’s Bay Area parties received over the years seemed enviable for anyone engaged in producing plus-size events. But in this pursuit, there is presumably a righteous component: being a size-acceptance advocate. Respecting your patrons beyond their payment for your services, but honoring their pursuit of a safe and accepting environment which fosters self-esteem and works toward lessening society’s stigma about fat people.
Darren wanted to expand his parties beyond California and made various attempts in Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas and Los Angeles. Hey, healthy competition is the American way. IF it’s healthy. So when last December in his latest attempt to establish a foothold in Seattle he did a surreptitious deal with Chihuahua’s Cantina in Auburn – the very same venue where long-time Seattle BBW party promoter Luke Henson had dozens of events for his plus-size group – I called foul.
Needless to say it raised a lot of ire and resentment against DJ Zulu and his new events at Chihuahua’s. In a uniting of purpose rarely seen in the local BBW community, Big Boogie Nights was boycotted by the frequent patrons of local BBW events. The Yahoo and MySpace groups which were the largest communication channels for reaching the local BBW community didn’t give the events any mention. What’s a promoter to do when he’s burned most all of the local bridges to the audience he’s trying to reach?
Apparently, get fired.
You’ll find no more mention about Seattle events on Darren’s website, nor on the venue’s website. Maybe the lack of support made his crowd smaller than that of Abundance NW, which the venue complained was never big enough. Maybe Darren broke up with the girlfriend who apparently was able to comp him airline tickets to make his Seattle visits possible. Either way, it appears that Big Boogie Nights in Seattle have ended not with a bang, but a whimper.
Will Abundance NW resurface at Chihuahua’s? If I were calling the shots, I wouldn’t even consider it as the venue owner is without a doubt a co-conspirator in treating the group badly and with disrespect. For now, it looks like Luke has been successful in producing some Friday night club nights in Tacoma which have rekindled his group’s support.
And the beat goes on.
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