Ruby Tuesday: Part 1

It’s Tuesday night and as any real New Yorker knows, it’s the best night to go out. The streets are clear, the suits are in bed, and a certain spot becomes a rock n' roll playgrounds for those who’d rather experience to live music than sit on their bum watching bad tv or dancing in their underwear to muffled noise coming out of crappy computer speakers. I'm talking about Ruby Tuesday at Don Hills. Have you ever heard the fairytale “The 12 Dancing Princesses”? After the kingdom was asleep the princesses would tip toe through a secret passageway that led to a beautiful lagoon with gondolas waiting to take them to the fairytale version of a hip club with handsome princes. Ruby Tuesday is pretty much the rock n’ roll version of this story, except my gondola is a yellow taxi cab bringing me to Don Hills in Tribeca. From 12am- 3am live bands play raw rock n’ roll. This is a live rock n' roll party happening in the middle of the night.

Here’s a small sampling of what’s been going down the last few weeks.

THE NUCLEARS

The Nuclears are a Brooklyn band that plays hard. They could make even the most uptight person let loose. Nick Vivid is the modern day Iggy Pop, with moves, swagger, pipes and bare chest to keep you screaming “MORE”. The songs are a cross between NY Dolls and The Stooges, it’s rock n’ roll you can dance to.

MAX IS KING

Max is King is a collaboration between Nick Fowler and Art Lynn. Nick is a gifted lyricist, given he’s an acclaimed author. Art Lynn lives up to his Jim Morrison image with his guitar chops, looking every bit the rock star in his practically painted on leather pants.

MALACHI

Malachi are a country duo from Pennsylvania whose music put me in a trance. There is an indescribable depth to their music. Moody, melodic, and transportive are all I can come up with. They’re a band you have to experience. After the show I spent a few hours playing and replaying their tracks on the band’s MySpace.

THE DEAD EX'S

The Dead Ex’s are David Patillo and Wiley Wirth. It’s baffling how much sound and energy can come out of a twosome. The Dead Ex’s play classic rock n’ roll spiked with a little Southern Comfort.

DIRTY & NAUGHTY

Dirty and Naughty ooze classic rock n’ roll charisma. There’s a whole lotta love happening on stage. They’re also are sharp dressers. Gass is one of the few people who can pull off leopard on leopard. The band is everything their name implies, naughty, rock n’ roll for your listening pleasure.

The bands are the main event, but Ruby Tuesday is also a dance party attracting many familiar faces from the downtown scene, with other special guests.

DJ's Ian El Derado & Kelle Calco

Me/ Ash Fox and Jeffree Star

Photos by ASH FOX Edited by KELLE CALCO

RUBY TUESDAY is a weekly ROCK N ROLL BOUTIQUE at the new DON HILLS showcasing cream of the crop classic rock inspired bands, DJs & personalities in SOUND & STYLE curated by Club Calco every Tuesday. ADMISSION IS FREE!

"Have you heard what's hapnin down at the new Don Hill's man?! We're gonna rub real shoulders and showcase no less than the highest standard of whats shakin man! LIVE and ELECTRIFIED! Righteous Rock N Rollers that write songs and carry the torch, struttin the sex, spreading the good genes and blue jeans around alright? Bands, bitches, bottles and boy wonders! Spankin that city into a natural groove! Trip down 6th to Soho man! Long hair, hookers, sinkers & action alright! Don't hide in your hood and whine 'Where have all the good times gone?" Don't wallow in worlds of words, ruins, relics, records, fossils and photographs. Don't ride the train into dungeouns full of rubber brains. Are you stuck in a scene with three dicks and no team? It's no wonder nobody knows your name! Keep it sexy or stay out you stubborn mother! Love it all and live it now girlfriend. Release! The guitars, the glamour. The models & musicians. The good head & fancy threads! Roll the stone! Dig the dylan! Rep the zeppelin baby! I'm talkin bout my generation! I'm back in the New York groove! I'm waitin for my man!" -Kelle Calco

For more information and band interviews check out ClubCalco.com

For more photos CLICK HERE

RUBY TUESDAY: Kelle Calco and The Colored Boys

photos by ASH FOX edited by KELLE CALCO

RUBY Tuesday is the newest night of sound and style brought to us by “Club Calco”, a club of which I’m proud to be a card carrying member. In NY nightlife, where parties are a dime-a-dozen Kelle Calco is the party maestro, throwing the ones with the best music and coolest people.

The opening night of Ruby Tuesday was doubly special being the debut performance of the “The Colored Boys” (Kelle Calco, Ronnie Magri, Zephaniah O’Hara, Dante Dalli, Matthew Demiccio). Leading up to the show everyone was abuzz… we all knew Kelle Calco as the DJ/host of our favorite parties and ringleader of Club Calco. He has the magnetism, swagger and look of a rock star but few had heard him perform. The launch of Ruby Tuesday, confirmed all that Kelle exudes. On this Indian summer night in November, the whole scene gathered in the new Don Hills. Floppy hats, paisley dresses, and furry coats were in abundance, mingling with the usual spikes, sparkles, cowboy boots, leather and lace. The walls of the renovated club are reminiscent of the 80s downtown art scene, punk perverted images layered together, clearly inspired by the likes of Basquait, and Richard Prince.

When the lights dimmed, we were all on our toes crowding around as The Stones ode to friendship, “Waiting on a Friend”, echoed through the speakers. It was apropos considering wherever you looked your eyes locked with a familiar face. The Boys walked through the crowd and onto the stage opening with “When the Velvet Comes” a song that mixes funk, soul and country with Kelle’s glammy vocal stylings. The Colored Boys are all you could ask for in a band, talented musicians, with style and charisma. It was refreshing to see musicians who knew how to put on a show. The Colored Boys brought back the energy of a time most of our parents have hidden away in dusty attics…classic goodness as an antidote for our plastic era.

It’s pretty much unfathomable how in one years time Kelle Calco transformed the NY rock scene. Spinning it around, shaking it on its head and stewing together all the local bohemians with blood type “R’NR”. For those of you who don’t live in NY, there really hasn’t been a scene since the late 80s. To give you a sense of my own experience... in 2005 NY was a dead zone for rock n’ roll. My high school boyfriend would play acoustic sets in leather pants to a crowd of 10 in places with depressing names like, The Bitter End. In 2007, I dreamt of living in LA, with all the aging rockers gripping onto thin threads of the 1980s Sunset Strip. The relic "Rainbow" with all the big hair, and the rock crowd aged about 20 yrs is cool and all but in 2010 with Club Calco there’s no reason to leave this city. Instead of a being part of someone else’s nostalgic memory we have our own Rock N’ Roll reality.

RUBY TUESDAY is a weekly ROCK N ROLL BOUTIQUE at the new DON HILLS showcasing cream of the crop classic rock inspired bands, DJs & personalities in SOUND & STYLE curated by Club Calco every Tuesday at 11pm.

StyleLikeU & NYCTV visits Ladyland

StyleLikeU TV: The Hudson Hotel with Kelle Calco from Stylelikeu on Vimeo.

Video Credit Stylelikeu.com

The clip aired on NYCTV last month from a series of clips on the revolutionary personal style site, StyleLikeU.com. See me talk about my favorite feathery jacket! You've seen it here, and here.

Below are three of my friend's amazing StyleLikeU closets. Check 'em out!

Dani Baum's Closet

Kelle Calco's Closet

Dandy Wellington's Closet

x Ash

Ladyland with Papermag.com, Stylelikeu, and Breedlove

parker millar

tommy hottpants

lily mandelbaum and elisa goodkind the creators stylelikeu.com

Elisa Goodkind and Lily Mandelbaum, the mother/ daughter visionary duo behind Stylelikeu.com came by to film a special for NYCTV. I've been a big fan of stylelikeu for a while now, so I was honored to be breifly interviewed by them. The special aired during Fashionweek and will hopefully will be posted online. Stylelikeu is a treasure chest of inspiration. On the surface it's a site about visual style, but when you watch the videos you see it's about the many ways people express themselves. The clothes only tell part of the story. The other day I passed a young man on the street with a pony tail, a flannel shirt wrapped around his waist, and a pipe in his mouth. His look was very 90s Seattle, but the pipe intrigued me. I think the success of stylelikeu is that we've all had these ephemeral moments where we're visually arrested by a person and wish we could hear their story...Stylelikeu gives us the chance.

darian darling

ann courtney of motherfeather

jaster leon of the party death and victoria walla

ashley jane meyers

richard kennedy

breedlove

zeph o'hara of the colored boys

ian el derado and kelle calco

me / ash fox

Ladyland at the Hudson Hotel Library Room from September 2, 2010

Photographed by ASH FOX Edited by KELLE CALCO

me/ Ash Fox by Alexander Thompson for Papermag.com

me and Nathanial John by Mario Manzoni. Check out his work at Famelust

caught in the act by Richard Kennedy. See his work at The House of Badkids

I wasn't the only one snapping away that night. Killer photographers Mario Manzoni, and Richard Kennedy documented the fun and Alexander Thompson of Paper Magazine shot some photos for an article on Kelle Calo and Ladyland. The night was capped off by a memorable performance by Breedlove and his hoola-hoop dancers. What a night!

LADYLAND : A ROCK N ROLL DANCE PARTY about Love, Light, Laughter, Ecstasy, Inebriation, Grit, and Glamour spreading and celebrating the spirit of a real and infectious musical sound which christened a lifestyle of liberation, libation, and celestial satisfaction. This is a place for souls who know that god still needs guitars and hearts don't beat to a click track. As one million dreamers tap their toes and tune into Jagger's lips and lyrics spitting on and all about the streets of New York....the very streets that we’re groovin on tonight.....we will be the faces they dream of, and this, my friend, is where those faces will meet. Come play with fire and paint it black. Come dance, little sister, dance with a motley cast of muppets, models, and musicians every Thursday at The Library in Hudson Hotel, Hell's Kitchen, NYC. EVERY THURSDAY, 11 PM – 4 AM"

The Music of Ladyland

Astro Erie

David Alva of Stoned Fire

Bobby Flores and Sammy Valentine

Ian El Derado

Jeffrey Clark Grossman

Jeremy Limpkin and Guy Furrow

Kelle Calco

Lipsy Velvet

Lady Valtronic

Jessica Paige, Sammy Valentine and me hidden by hair

Ladyland at the Hudson Hotel Library Room from August 5, 2010

photos by ASH FOX edited by KELLE CALCO

The above photos are the results of me whirling around Ladyland with a camera in hand.

The party gets better and better each week. I'll say it again, Ladyland is the closest thing to 54 in 2010. Come for the fashion, the friends, the spectacle of it all, but mainly for the music...

As visually stylish as the attendees are, you can't capture the music stylings in photos. Resident rockstar DJs, Kelle Calco and Guy Furrow have the finesse to know when to play to the present mood of the party and when to transform the mood completely. They play a rock/punk/glam/ funk/soul potpourri, but each have a distinctive methodology in how they arrange their sets. Instead of the usual top 40 club hits, or the hipster-- "it's only cool if it's indie and unknown" stuff, they play what they like. Guest DJs Ian El Derado, Marty E, Sammy Valentine, and others pop in from week to week adding another layer of rock n' roll goodness to the music menu. Ladyland's DJs have so much style that there's no need to look at the DJ booth to know to whose spinning.

LADYLAND : A ROCK N ROLL DANCE PARTY about Love, Light, Laughter, Ecstasy, Inebriation, Grit, and Glamour spreading and celebrating the spirit of a real and infectious musical sound which christened a lifestyle of liberation, libation, and celestial satisfaction. This is a place for souls who know that god still needs guitars and hearts don't beat to a click track. As one million dreamers tap their toes and tune into Jagger's lips and lyrics spitting on and all about the streets of New York....the very streets that we’re groovin on tonight.....we will be the faces they dream of, and this, my friend, is where those faces will meet. Come play with fire and paint it black. Come dance, little sister, dance with a motley cast of muppets, models, and musicians every Thursday at The Library in Hudson Hotel, Hell's Kitchen, NYC. EVERY THURSDAY, 11 PM – 4 AM"