Catégorie : Voyage

  • Partying In Mexico City (2022)

    Partying In Mexico City (2022)

    Hello, my name is Tom Tales. I am a party scholar which means I studied parties around the world. Especially in the gay world. Nothing straight

    Mexico City is the idea of the 90s

    Partying in Mexico City has a vibe of what millennials think partying in the 90s was : basements, factory like setting, barrels and cheap beers. Yes, in Mexico, beers are very cheap plus, in bars, you don’t even have to leave tip. Yeah, we have done experiences where we would check and ask…. and, in bars, people don’t leave tip. So even cheaper!

    Drags are the new mainstream

     Even in Mexico, drags are everywhere. It is kind of …interesting to some extent to watch guys dress as ladies sing tween songs in bars where…. there are only guys. Anyways, that is just my unpopular opinion. Nevertheless, the Mexicans love to sing and boy, does their culture give in well into drag culture for the « singing my heart out and dancing a choreography » part. And they do that in Spanish. As a Québecois who is used to have everything in American in my bars, it is very refreshing to see how the world is not all-american….in America (Mexico is still in America hahaha).

    Fun fact, bars ans cafes where they played American music where more generic and expensive than others playing local music.

    Mexicans are the Dancing Queens

    BAILA BAILA BAILA contigo, conmigo con todo! I LOVE TO DANCE, and boys does the Mexicans dance. I’ll do another article on boys and girls in clubs, but Mexican gay clubs are usually pretty mix especially on the younger side, and…..as a dance lover, they dance. They were outdancing me, especially since they social dance in couple. Imagine a pool of dancers, even dancing on bars and on the floors with 1$ beers. They legit, outperform north american typical club goers. You should be dancing yeah !

    Reggaeton is really better than dance

    okay, i know you all like Britney but nevertheless, reggaeton (which was annoyingly everywhere like…..i opened my bathroom door and reggaeton was there) is really in the hips and it is so sensual. I realize how, in North Western Cultures, we lost the art of dancing with someone. There wasn’t a single club that didn’t put social dances at some point. I know we used to have slows before but now, the DON’T TOUCH ME vibes are making us cold.

    Cheap, affordable, cool, edgy, young and passionate.

    In conclusion, I think a great deal of future is in the CDMX (ciudad de Mexico) bar/club scene. It is still very young, fresh, unexpensive and cool. I also think that latin culture is yet to have a even bigger break on the worldwide scene. I would put my money in CDMX.

    Let’s just say we are going to Marrakesh Salon which is located on a party street near the « palais royal » of Mexico. Entering there on a Friday cost 50 pesos and you get a free beer. That is 2.5US$ to get in a club with a beer! Once I was in, you can imagine a crowd of people dancing and chanting with pink lights. Cages and Dancers on the bars. Boys and Girls mostly Gays and Girls. The music is electro-pop and latin music. Very dancy and a lot of songs, unlike northern clubs, are made to be danced with a partner. That makes clubs even more fun.

  • Pride in Montréal was something Else (2023)

    Pride in Montréal was something Else (2023)

    Montréal Summer 2023, the world is changing, the world is changing. Montréal’s Pride’s party vibe is returning to what it was before the 80’s : a non-stop party full of Americans!

    Bears, Americans & Party

    So, this year, a first, I had friends from New York coming. We went shopping to the Bear Buffet : a party from the Group called Bear-It in collab with Armada Montréal: a party full of bears where geeks become complete sl*ts for a night.

    Boy, those topless bears were sweaty and ready. Imagine a nerdy guy kissing one, and then another one, meanwhile getting his belly rubbed by his daddy. This is not reality!

    Hunter mode activated

    Big guys don’t really how much they are chased….until they become slim.

    Indeed, in this world, when you are slim and fit, you are suppose to do the work! Nevertheless, my hunter mode is easily activated.

    What is Hunter Mode? It is in the eye. You walk to the buffet and fix on your food until it comes to you. Usually, the food first acts like they don’t care. But then you let out a slight hand wave by licking your lower lip, and then the food says, « Come, eat me, » with their smile.

    Américan Montréal

    We use to be poor, to live in the shadows of what Canadians thought of us. It has clearly changed since Americans discovered Montréal’s party scene.

    And they were ready to party as much as we were ready to welcome them.

    I wished they were more « cultured » though on Québec. Québécois are rooted to Montréal and Americans are so easy-come-easy-go makes it a vision with no future…while they could be such a bright future for Québec-Usa. We have the culture and they have the money.

    Kissing my first American Flirt 15 years later.

    Rewind to when as a young 21 years old, I went to New York with a dream of kissing a fat American bearded man… a dream came true, an American dream. Flashback at RockBar NYC, and there he was: your typical American guy from Connecticut sitting and agreeing to kiss my lips after a lot of me shyly going to him for a talk. 15 years later, I am on St-Catherine Street on Sunday (when all the cool people in Montréal go out) to see where it is at. I am near the store PRIAPPE in the Village right by the Eagle, as we are about to head to Dj Bugo Darling Olympic Stadium Dance Dj Set smoking a big joint.

    So I lurk on the app « Growlr » and there is a face I feel I know. Looks who is there : the first American bear I kissed in NYC!

    After a moment, I ask him about it. We kind of recognize each other. He then tells me he is sitting in the bar right beside where I am. Public transportation in Montréal is horrible because of overpaid bad workers …not working. So I ditched my friends waiting in line and went to meet him.

    I love American Bears

    I go in the overcrowded bar. There he is : big american chunky guy and with a black beard. There is one stool left at the bar, and it is next to him with a full beer in front of it.

    I love Americans 🐻

    We kiss

  • Stairways of Crystal : Tuesday’s at Monster’s West Village New York  (2023)

    Stairways of Crystal : Tuesday’s at Monster’s West Village New York (2023)

    This is the story of a Tuesday Night in Manhattan’s West Village in New York. For any party goer, Tuesday’s can the most legendary « out of the world » night. Indeed, that is where the devil of the eternal party lies. This time New York made him proud!

    Future Starts Slow

    The whole soirée started out kind of slow, I got lost in MANHATTAN bicycling. I arrived two hours late to meet my friend at Ty’s (the second gay bar ever opened in New York). Like old school partners the  rendez-vous was given « meet me there at this time », no phone, no anything. It feels much more relax.

    Descending the stairway of Crystal

    Capture the feeling : you are in New York, in the middle of the West Village, right beside The Stonewall Inn, where the gays first appeared  and you go down a stairway full of mirrors : a disco ball is pending from the wall and music is blasting from the entreance.
    Saturday Night Fever has never felt so real.

    The Dancefloor is the party

    A performer is singing every word the dj is playing. More mirrors and a wall full of light is pulsing at the music.

    Dancing is a communion

    In this place, dancing is a communion. The term posing takes its meaning here.
    People are standing on the wall waiting for their moment. An impulse of being watched and then  becoming the show makes the vibe thrilling.
    I have been dancing and thrilled to be watched. An old man comes to me :
    Work it, work it work it, do it, do it, do it. Come on, give it your all
    And I work. It is not a competition but I am on stage. Where is my limit, whose gonna work it more.
    And he doesn’t leave me until I show them moves.
    Donna Summer is singing a remix and I am working it. Moves from the arms and the legs are only an emulation of what I see around. People are beautiful and people are having it. The performer is making an exit in a grave position lying on the stage showing her elegance to everybody.

    Last Dance : Time To Shine

    Lesson of partying on a Tuesday : It is not about the quantity but the about the quality. True legends come out on Tuesdays.
    Tuesday’s night is a reminder that you can have the best party in a party of 3.
    Side note, I have been introduced to a great dj called Jamir. He is playing Sunday at The Hangar. Guess it is a rendez-vous! (After Eagle 😉
    2025 Update (I did not go;) ).
    See you New York 💋
  • We Need To Talk About Hell’s Kitchen Gay Scene (2023)

    We Need To Talk About Hell’s Kitchen Gay Scene (2023)

    Tom Tales was in New York Hell’s Kitchen, more particularly at Hush for Bears Happy Hours when they played Michelle Branch and Vanessa Carlton back to back. Hiding in a corner while the female equivalent of Nickelback singed while holding is 9$ beer, he became hopeless….. what has become of gay culture and New York « edgy » bars? Britney was not even on yet but he felt she was about to come….He later told me Christina Aiguilera “Genie in a Bottle” is a hit at Flex……

    Manifesto : We Need To Talk About Hell’s Kitchen Music

    Welcome to The Corporate “Taste” du Jour : a place where you are free of any judgement about anything you like and where only money drives the intentions of any given cultural statement. Music is not art, it is a way to make you drink. Inclined with Spotify, major labels and what television tells you, you will be able to listen to it while working at the bank or shopping at the mall. Drake is your friend and Taylor Swift is your god! « Gurlll », you are in heaven!

    If you think the previous songs are jams, then you have very corporate tastes my friend.

    The Musical Gay NPC lives in Hell’s Kitchen!

    A musical NPC (Non-Playable Character) is unthreatening to the system and willing to spend a fortune on things fed to him by the machine without question. They are everywhere and perfect fit to justify paying overpriced tickets for any Live Nations Act while buying this new Ice Spice Starbuck Coffee after clicking on targeted ads via their latest iphones.

    I Will Become A Machine

    Machines took over the music in the last 5 years. It means now, every bar and coffee shop in America runs on Spotify playlists.They just work, are easy to use, reliable and somewhat good.

    Flat White Corporate Taste all over America

    The dark side of the machines is that it flattens our general music taste and leads to mainstream. I have travelled to many cafes, and they all now play a derivative of lo-fi Chill Cow music. No personal flavor : New York is not special anymore.

    Lets put it this way, Netflix pays for shows. Thus, it is good for Netflix to have the highest number of listeners for the lowest number of shows. So what does the algorithm do, it curates the specific to bring you slowly towards the mainstream without even you noticing it. IT TRAINS YOU to become generic. That is what it ALWAYS DOES. The ads money is in the mainstream….and these companies want money…..

    Don’t brag about your Spotify Recap

    Think about this. Did you really picked the song on your playlist or was it the machine based on your “tastes”. Either way, don’t brag about it : it is not healthy for humanity.

    (2025 update : it is the machine)

    In retrospective, normalizing that the most expensive bars in New York have the lowest taste in music is marking the death of the city : corporate bankers can’t have good taste since they are the machine.

    Tom Tales is considering going to Coachella with a plan payable in a 12 month plans after hearing one song of one artist on « randomly » on Spotify.
    It was called : Do it gurl!