Disco Will Never Die

Day 36/366 days of writing pieces in 2024.

I was sitting in my seat at the show loving every bit of the music.

But something was missing. What was it? Oh right.

Part of my outfit was missing because it was confiscated. A BIG part of my outfit. My disco ball hat.

I've had this hat since 2021. One of my dear friends made it and I wore it to a show in Seattle for Halloween that year. That night I realized that wearing that helmet brought me so much joy and helped me to connect to an earlier part of my life.

I was a competitive figure skater growing up for 16 years and so connecting to music, costumes, creative expression, and dance are life to me. Wearing the helmet transported me to when I got to wear costumes at my figure skating competitions and events. It brings me massive joy.

After that night in Seattle, I started wearing the disco helmet to a lot of different music events. Whether it was to see a DJ spin or various funk/disco bands, or art events, on different trips the helmet has brought not only myself but so many others around me joy everywhere that I go.

There I was last night in the audience of KC and the Sunshine Band at Hershey Theater in Hershey, Pennsylvania. An iconic 50-year-old disco/funk band that still has two founding members: the lead singer Harry Wayne Casey and drummer/bongo player Fermin Goytisolo. I was ecstatic to be there watching. It was incredible to hear KC talk about the impact of their music on history.

Humble, funny, entertaining, grateful as hell to still be performing after 50 years. He was real and vulnerable and his energy was adorable. The music was great. The theater was beautiful. The only thing missing was the amount of joy I usually have when I wear my disco ball.

I’ve worn this disco helmet all over the country. To LA, Miami, Denver, DC and Austin. When I wore it in DC in 2021, it was to see Funkadelic at Howard Theater. As a DC native, I know that security is normally higher in our capital’s city. It has to be. Yet Howard welcomed me with open arms that night. Security was responsible and did the normal checks but then the show went on. I was bringing smiles to everyone’s faces wearing it. The band pulled me up on stage at one point. Everyone had a great time.

But my favorite time wearing it so far was in Austin. I went to Moody Theater to see Kool and The Gang. Again security did the normal expected checks and the show went on. The staff loved the vibe I brought. Security was welcoming.

The singers and musicians dug the disco helmet and I got some great photos with some of them at the end.

That’s never my intention whether it happens or doesn’t. But I love when it does, it can bring joy to their faces. “Hey, she loves us so much she’s wearing this disco ball on her head. How cool.” It’s all in good fun. Lots of people ask questions and get pics with me. I remind them that even at almost 50 you get to be fun, fabulous, and creative.

After having such a great time at Kool and the Gang I made a promise to myself that I would get out there and start seeing some of the great bands and musicians who I haven’t seen yet. The ones closer to the end of their journeys. There’s a lot I missed and after Prince died (I did see him in the 90s) it made me realize I need to see these people. I need to go support the artists who have made my life better. Who have made my art better - providing the soundtrack and inspiration when I paint. Who have made my creativity better. Their art has inspired me.

KC told an amazing story on stage last night. He talked about being a songwriter since he was 13. He talked about when he co-wrote the song Rock Your Baby he had no idea the magnitude it would have on the music industry. Rock Your Baby was one of the landmark recordings of disco music. A massive international hit. He talked about how much art came out of that one song. How many artists later told him that that song inspired music of theirs. How Dancing Queen by Abba was inspired by that song. And how John Lennon once said in an interview that if there were one song he wished he could’ve written it would’ve been that song.

I was sitting in the audience taking this moment in. It was one of those priceless nuggets that you get when you see a live performance and a musician shares the history behind something.

It made me think of a quote my dear friend Safiya Robinson always says,” Creativity breeds creativity”. It’s true. Songs inspire other songs. Art inspires stories. Fashion inspires creativity too. It’s a never-ending circle of artistry. It was this artistry that inspired the creation of my disco helmet - the one I wasn’t able to wear.

I was sitting in the audience listening to the history of one of the most historical disco songs ever made and meanwhile, my disco helmet was locked behind closed doors, confiscated for no one to see. To inspire no one. It did not belong there. It belonged on my head. Letting me inspire others. Letting me express my token of gratitude for how this band’s music has inspired my art and life.

But it wasn’t. It was locked away in a room - like a time out for getting in trouble. When we first got to the theater they made me take it off and I thought they were just doing normal security checks. They weren’t. They told me I wasn’t allowed to wear it into the show. That it was a weapon????!!!! A hat made out of disco mirrors that I wanted to wear to an iconic disco band’s show. They said they would lock it in the office and I could get it after.

I was shocked. It was a total buzzkill. I had been looking forward to wearing my disco ball all week. Like a little kid waiting for Christmas morning. Only to be told no. That I was wearing a weapon.

I sat in the audience, still enjoying the priceless moment of the story KC was sharing, enjoying the music, and my friend’s company while at the same time feeling crushed. There was a hole in my heart. I felt cut off from my creative expression. I wondered how many times this had happened to other people in similar situations. Wearing something, going about their lives, expressing themselves in a way that brings them joy, to be told they aren’t allowed to. A weapon? Was I really hurting people by wearing a hat made of disco mirrors? Is this the society we’ve become? Lord help us.

I know I’m not the only one who has experienced something like this. When did we become this? And why had I gone to numerous venues all over the country and nothing like this had ever happened? Yet here, I was living a killjoy?

It baffled me. I still enjoyed my night but I told my friend as soon as I got my helmet back when we left I wanted her to take a picture of me in it. In Front of Hershey Theater expressing myself.

UN-Apologetically.

The picture was my first step of allowing myself to be seen and heard. The second? I went to Trip Advisor and wrote this review and shared the pic.

And the third? Writing this article. I have to get this out. It’s wrong on so many levels and this is a safe space to dump it. There was no way I was going to leave that theater and do nothing.

Because the truth is, I hope this never happens to anyone else. Because there’s truly no reason for it.

Disco will never die.

Creativity will never die.

And neither should creative expression.