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There was a blue moon that night. A full, blue moon. An absolutely amazing sunset on Halloween. I had spent a rushed 20 minutes after work fighting through the crowds at the Halloween “SUPERSTORE!!” — to find some last minute costumes for the !Tang boys. There was hardly anything left, but I was determined to find something — anything, really. And I did — reindeer ears, a yellow wig, a styrafoam “Rasta Imposta” fro (still don’t get why none of the boys would wear it!?), butterfly wings from the children's section (to go with my original “Fly Boys” theme…) and inflatable bugs (an ant, a bumblebee and a ladybug to grace the stage)…

On the drive up to Bolinas — Ray, Sparky and Tracy all joked that I was in fact a “Smiley’s Virgin.” Yes, I had no idea what to expect. After a long drive along winding roads, we arrived to the town that was Bolinas. It was really just one street. There was Smiley’s and then there was the restaurant across the street from Smiley’s. Oh, but there were also people all over the street, dressed in fabulous costumes. I thought they were just there because it was the local party scene. But, I would soon find out — they were in fact wild !Tang fans, arriving from everywhere. The scene was a bit surreal — though even more so by the fact that we got a flat tire upon arrival. And the culprit was silverware. Yes, a fork in the road, literally popped a hole in our tire.

So we dressed up some of the guys while others, like Ian, had concocted their own interesting costumes - he was a bumblebee that had been attacked by birds. The blood and birds runneth over. Mark — a bumble bee — a pretty one I might add. Owen — a mighty pirate minus the hook. Ray — what was Ray? Simon — the reindeer, thanks to the ears. Sparky — he wore the yellow wig. John (Mahoney on sax) was one with the crowd, lava lamp and butterfly wings intact. And Dermott (a guest star on guitar for the evening) was apparently wearing a long coat with nothing underneath. Though it was never proven.

And then there was the funk. The funk was in full effect, the music was soulful. My favorite of the night — Maceo’s “Pass the Peas” — just can't go wrong with that. The crowd was wild. I thought it was just the costumes at first, but I was wrong. They were a truly different breed of !Tang fans at Smiley’s. Truly a different breed. Two long sets (or was it three?!) of energy — pure, !Tang style, energy. The whole experience is now (2 weeks later) a blur to me. But, I do remember the absolutely amazing energy of the fans as well — dancing crazy to the sounds of the “fly boys” on Halloween.

Stay tuned for the pictures of the show (costumes and all)…

— V
(aka Vineeta)