To T-Dot And Back: On The Road With Rich Medina (Jan. 18-21)

WHERE: Le Poisson Rouge (158 Bleecker St., New York)
WHEN: Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Still rocking'…still fighting that good fight…Props continues to be a gift from above for Lepse and me. Last week was exceptionally so. Great traffic, great dancers, and great energy. For all those New Yorkers who assume that, since APT closed, their Wednesday night watering hole closed with it, we bring you Props. We all miss APT something terrible for a zillion reasons, but we've carried on the tradition of Li'l Ricky's Rib Shack with our new adventure at LPR. Come rock with us and see, every week.

WHERE: The Echo (1822 West Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles)
WHERE: Thursday, January 19, 2012

Danny Holloway set up an incredible night of music with DJ Inka One, Canyon Chris, Rhettmatic, Shortkut, Peanut Butter Wolf, and me last Thursday. Strictly 45 rpm vinyl all night. This is my set, asked, locked and loaded at Inka One's crib about 45 minutes before the party. For more looks at that incredible night, check out Farah Sosa's blog here. Salute to all the wax-slingers in the house last Thursday in L.A. New Jacks, get a late pass and take a Ludens...

WHERE: Supermarket (268 Augusta Ave., Toronto)
WHEN: Friday, January 20, 2012

On our first road trip together since joining forces at APT over eight years ago, Akalepse and I beat the brakes off this place. Unfortunately, my camera has been outta commission so I had to settle for this shot of the venue logo. Awesome food, awesome dance floor, and awesome sound system in this place. The soundman, Chris, was super on-point. We're booked for March already too. Lovely. Props is officially on the move in Canada…book us in your city so we can get busy there too. One love to Carol and Helen for the dope accommodations too.

WHERE: 30,000 Feet Above Canada
WHEN: Saturday, January 21, 2012

I HATE these little-ass planes! Not for reasons safety or fear, but because it's bad enough at my height on a damn 747, let alone a puddle jumper like this one. Then, we arrived at Toronto Airport and walked into Porter Air's lobby to free snacks and drinks, ultra-polite fight attendants, and free food on board. Other airlines can learn a ton from the folks at Porter. Very impressive how they deal with their customers, huge overhead compartments despite the small plane size—they made a short flight to Montreal more enjoyable than most airline experiences I've had before.

February 3 (9 p.m. — 2 a.m.)
ILÉ w/Ron Trent
The Shrine Coup D’État
2109 South Wabash
Chicago
21+
$10/$15

Ron Trent is a Don, and every time we've rocked together it's been magical from WMC to Sonotheque to Shine in NYC. Really looking forward to this next visit to Chicago for a night of Afro Global Soul!

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February 4 (11 p.m. — 3 a.m.)
Lazy Afternoon Presents THE MOVEMENT w/DJ YNOT, LT SMASH & KITTYBAT
Substance Gallery
934 Mills Avenue
Orlando, Fla.
18+
$7 (18+) / $5 (21+)
RSVP to: info@thelazyafternoon.com

What? Kids in Orlando love dance classics and and house music? Really? I got them drugs for y'all then! Let's go, Orlando. Installment number two of The Movement is NOW!

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February 23 (10 p.m. — 2 a.m.)
Walnut Room
1709 Walnut St.
Philadelphia
21+
Free before 11 p.m.; $5 after

Hello, Philly! Your boy is coming home to rock with you like Michael Jackson on February 23 at the Walnut Room! It's been far too long since I've had a night of my own in Philly. Let's make it a night to remember, fam!

WHERE: Royal Phoenix Bar (5788 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montreal)
WHEN: Saturday, January 21, 2012

The Royal Phoenix is a popular gay and lesbian bar in Montreal, normally. On our night, we turned it into a gender-blind New York dance party for the ages. Here, Lepse is beating the place down something terrible about 30 minutes into the night. The far back left corner was chock fulla party people giving it up, record for record; the bar was rammed with head nodding drinkers; and some of our NYC/Philly dance family was in town to rock with us, too. Dope night all around, aside from it being cold as a titty in a brass bra outside. Canadians got a different gear in them regarding how they deal with the cold. I was amazed at that in Montreal, since we were rammed despite sub-zero temperatures. One love to Rahel for bringing this to life, and one love to my G, Andy Williams, for going out and showing love.