Faaaags iiiin Spaaaaace!

>> This year's Black & Blue puts the "extra" in extraterrestrial

by KRISTA

Space, September 13, 1999: a terrible thermonuclear explosion on Moonbase Alpha has sent the moon hurtling out of Earth's orbit into the deep, dark reaches of outer space. What will happen to the crew of Moonbase Alpha?

Well, given that I've never seen an actual episode of Space:1999, I don't know. But if you go to Black & Blue this year, you may be able to find out. How's that, you ask? Space:1999 (or Cosmos:1999 as it is known to les Quebecois) is the theme of the main event at the yearly BBCM festival.

Of course, the version you get to see at Black & Blue may differ slightly from the original '70s TV series starring Martin Landau and Barbara Bain. Serving as the blueprint for many a sci-fi adventure film, Space:1999's Moonbase Alpha crew floats aimlessly through space encountering all sorts of strange beings while looking for a way to get back to Earth. At the Black & Blue party, people float aimlessly through the Olympic Stadium encountering all sorts of costumed drag queens and more in an attempt to escape their banal existence on Earth, at least for one night.

"I chose the theme of Cosmos:1999 for two reasons," says Denis Brossard of Mood Conception Visuelle, artistic director for this year's event. "One, because the original show, which aired between '74 and '77, was supposed to depict what life would be like in the millennium, and it was totally wrong. Two, because on the show, the characters were on a moon out of orbit, lost in space, and Black & Blue is essentially its own planet, a place where people can go that is outside of Earth."

Brossard assures me that this year's show is unlike any from years previous. "I took special care to make sure that people will be totally surprised this year. They won't believe what they see when they arrive."

The main show unfolds in three parts which, as far as I can tell (because the people at BBCM won't give it away) are based loosely on the films Close Encounters, Star Wars and Lost in Space. Expect lavish costumes and a sound and light show, which they insist will be more intense and impressive than anything Pink Floyd or the Rolling Stones ever tried to pull off. Local DJ/producer Nicola Torriero has scored an original piece of music to accompany the Close Encounters performance, and Maav Productions (Mark Anthony and Alain Vinet) put together the soundtrack for the Star Wars and Lost in Space portions of the show.

Meanwhile, back on Earth

Aside from the whole Cosmos:1999 thing, there will be performances by the Funky Green Dogs, Kristine W. and the Couch Potatoes with Stephane Moraille (of Bran Van 3000 fame), as well as the yearly "Mega-show Bad Boy Club Montreal," choreographed by Patrick Guay with Jean-Pierre Perusse, featuring the BBCM dancers and hometown drag celebrities like Mado, Verushka and Sheena Hershey. The 45-minute show will portray a retrospective of dance and dance music through the century putting special emphasis on the 1980s, the beginning of the era of AIDS. It will also celebrate the founding of the BBCM foundation in 1990 and the first Black & Blue event.

This will indubitably be the biggest Black & Blue event ever, as this year BBCM are rolling Black & Blue and New Years into one, celebrating the coming of the Millennium 83 days early (thereby avoiding any pesky Y2K problems). What started out a decade ago as a warehouse party to raise funds for AIDS awareness has now become a production to rival le Cirque du Soleil--and they put it all together in not much over three months. :

At the Big O on Sunday, October 10, 10pm, $60