Mercury Rising
Mr. Farenheit and the Loverboys have ambition, but also a firm grip on reality and a good sense of humor. Recognizing that any tribute to Queen would fall short of the original band's heights, guitarist Jacob Wooten, vocalist Phillip Cogley and co. aim for it's essence. Spandex is out and special effects are limited by space and budget (Cogley's trying to grow a Freddie Mercury mustache, if that counts), but still they plan to create the air of a full-tilt arena show while delivering varied selections from the Queen song book including "We Will Rock You" and "Bohemian Rhapsody," complete with backup singers. It's all to benefit Columbus AIDS Task Force.Melissa Starker
Think only social services organizations and communities of faith adopt familes for the holiday? Think again!
This year, many individuals and organizations involved with TRAUMA- the annual Halloween fetish ball sponsored by Evolved tattoo and piercing studios and Motion Productions- have joined forces with a host of other partners to provide Thanksgiving meals and more to 10 families in need.
"All of us are privileged enough to attend events like TRAUMA," said Motion Productions' Jacob Wooten. "We wanted to spoil someone else and give them a holiday to remember."
Genesis
How did all of this come about? The storyline goes something like this: Wooten and Evolved owner Nick Wolak had already decided to use TRAUMA as a way to sponsor families for the holidays. Wooten contacted local music phenom DJ Moxy to spin at the TRAUMA event. Moxy contacted Gendala Kelli Ann of Queen Mae and the Bells to perform to one of her tracks. Gendala, who manages Haircolorxperts (HCX) in the Short North, wanted to do even more for the families than feed them- she wanted to invite those families to HCX to get free haircuts and styles, and Gendala enlisted local photographer Andrea Haley of Devyne Productions, who volunteered to take holiday portraits of each family and provide framed prints free of charge.
Meanwhile, Wooten and Wolak arranged with Whole Foods Market to receive a full holiday meal, including an oven-ready free range turkey, mashed potatoes, turkey gravy, traditional stuffing, cranberry orange relish, dinner rolls, and two side dishes of their choice. Evolved and Whole Foods are splitting the approximately $1,600 cost.
And thus has born this year's holiday event. On November 18 from noon-6p, HCX will host 10 deserving families from the Clintonville Beechwold Community Center. Queen Mae and the Bells, The Dolls of Evolved, and staff members from Evolved, and Outlook Weekly will be on hand to provide fun and games for each family, while DJ Moxy spins her unique blend from 3-6p. More than a dozen HCX stylists will donate their time and talents to cut and style the hair of every family member. Haley will shoot a portrait of each group.
Wooten and friends will deliver the finished portraits, along with the complete Thanksgiving meals, to the families on November 21.
Community Call To Action
So how can the community get involved? Donate something!
"We're collecting non-perishable food items, toys, and clothing for the families," Gendala said. "Children in these families range in age from 16 months to 19 years, and we need clothing for all ages and genders."
"Giving back is what this event is all about," said performer Noka Davers, who will shed drag and donate time and talent to the November 18 event as boy-self Robbie Daniels. "The word 'community' has many definitions, and it's amazing to see a tattoo and piercing studio joining forces with a local hair salon, the local queer paper, a neighborhood community center, and a major grocery store chain to show us just how diverse and caring Columbus is."
Donations of food, toys, and clothing will be accepted through November 18 at Evolved (1880 N High Street.) Haircolorxperts (771 N High St.), Outlook Media (815 N High St. south basement suite ii), and High Five Bar (1277 N High St.). For more information call Haircolorxperts 614.545.7100.
Michael Daniels
Fetishes, freaks and two holidays will collide next week at Trauma, the annual extreme Halloween party that attracts partygoers from across the country.
The event will bring together costumed revelry in the spirit of Halloween and turkey dinners in the spirit of Thanksgiving when, for the first time since it began in 2002, tattoo and piercing studio Evolved's annual bash will benefit charity.
Co-organizers Nick Wolak, Evolved's owner, and Jacob Wooten, a staffer there, are expecting 500 to 1,000 costumed partiers and performers will fill Sugar Bar next Wednesday.
The co-organizers sat down to tell Alive about plans for the event and the Thanksgiving meals that will follow.
Alive : How much has Trauma changed since the first event in 2002?
Nick: The first year, it was Shawn Lower from Only Flesh and me from Evolved.
We made it a combination of Halloween, fetish balls and freak shows. And we knew a lot of different people who had been exposed to a lot of different events, parties, cultures, subcultures, so it was our idea every year to bring something a little different that would really treat people to a good surprise.This year, Jacob has brought a lot of new ideas, and we're going to have things that we've never had before.
We have a hypnosis show. There will be three shows: one will be PG-13, one will be rated R and one will be unrated. That's something that should be a lot of fun. And I don't know that that happens in Columbus or Ohio every day. It's more of something you would expect to see in Las Vegas.
Alive: What else do we have, Jacob?
Jacob: We have scavenger hunts, sort of like an explore-and-play concept. Snacks—we're going to hit everybody's sweet tooth with a cotton candy machine. We have some fun plans for that. Twister—there's a few ways we're going to tweak that up a little bit.
Nick: We have a lot of other things, but I don't know that they should go public right now.
Alive: Who usually comes?
Nick: A lot of customers, a lot of local musicians, artists. We have people fly in and drive in from all over the country, too—from as far away as L.A. and Argentina.
Alive: How did the charity idea develop this year?
Nick: Initially, it was just something that never crossed our mind.
Jacob: I did something similar last year [before joining Evolved's staff] for Halloween. It was small, nothing like Trauma. But I figured with a bigger event, we might as well adopt more families.
What we're doing with some of the profits from Trauma is adopting 10 underprivileged families in Central Ohio who can't afford to have Thanksgiving dinner or much of anything. They're going to get all-natural, free-range Thanksgiving meals, totally oven-ready and provided by Whole Foods.
On November 18, we're going to invite all of the families to Hair Color Xperts in the Short North and give all the members a free haircut, followed by a family portrait by Devyne Productions.
Nick: [With] the charity events that we have done [before], what goes to the charity was determined by the success of the event. For Trauma this year, all of the charitable donations are guaranteed. So no matter what happens October 31, 10 Central Ohio families are going to have an amazing Thanksgiving meal.
Alive: Do you think the charity effort is boosting ticket sales?
Nick: I don't more think people will go because of it. But I think that especially when you go out and have a crazy night out like Trauma, just knowing that it's [for] a good cause or knowing that the organizers aren't just crazy freaks throwing a crazy party, but they're also community conscious and environmentally conscious and all that, it's just nice.
Brittany Kress
