The Bar Gets Raised

Friday's extended set by Derrick Carter might have been the first great show of 2006. Carter presented no option other than to dive in head-first, since the entire set was all killer, no filler. The crowd was enthusiastic the entire evening, while Professor Carter put on a lecture on the history and breadth of house music. He dipped into disco, touched on some jack-house (very old school and propulsive, as the idea is for you to "jack" your body), and fit in a few very quirky gems as well (a track based on the Bobby McFerrin's Cosby show theme?). It is the best set Seattlest has seen from Mr. Carter in years, and even he was happy with the set, as his last few Seattle appearances were less than perfect. A sizable portion of the crowd made their way to the not-quite-secret afterhours, where Jacob London was doing their Jacob London thing, getting the hipster afterhours set going to some very quality minimal techno.

But enough on the music, great as it was. One of the great things about the night is encapsulated in the accompanying picture. This individual was standing outside The War Room directing traffic. Late-night hot dog vendors on Capitol Hill aren't hard to come by (and it makes you wonder why more places don't just stay open later), so it's good to see that at least one of these stands is trying to differentiate themselves from the pack. It's one of those little things that makes you feel like you're in a big city, not just mid-size Seattle (you're certainly not getting this in Redmond). Thank you hot dog vendor for reminding us why the city is great. And thank you Mr. Carter for reminding us why we spent three years obnoxiously correcting people so that you were referred to as Derrick "Muthafucking" Carter.