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I suppose you wouldn’t have to worry about hairloss ever again if something had already caused you to lose it all…

I was worried last night about going to a gig crossdressed for the club night I was expected to appear at afterwards, as this photo shows I needn’t have worried:

Allow me to explain, last night I was more in demand than I have been for ages and I was double-booked. On the last Saturday of the month is a regular night I attend called Pandora’s Box. This is a night that thanks to a combinaion of my penchant for dressing up and my friends I am considered underdressed if I am dressed as a man. As proof of this I offer an extract of a conversation I had there the first time I was their dressed as a man.

Her: Hi… I know your face, but I can’t place the name.
Me: Think wig and heels.
Her: You’re Jessica?*
Me: Yup.

(Insert 2-3 minutes of ‘How are you?’ type chat.)

Her: Fuck, it’s weird talking to you dressed as man.
Me: Really?
Her: Well this is the first time I have spoken to you dressed as a man. Whenever I see you you are wearing more make up than me.
Me: Point taken.

I had even planned an outfit for the night, or rather I was planning to wear the outfit I was planning to wear last month until I wound up not going out.

However on Thursday, my housemate and I noticed that there was a gig on for a band that we both liked - Naturally it was last night as well. Fortunately the timings didn’t really clash as the gig was at a club before a club night and Pandora’s Box is a slightly clubby night - Inasmuch as it has loud music and dancing until the early hours.

The catch was though was before going out to the club where I usually cross-dress, I had a gig to go to. A gig at an unknown venue where I had no idea how well a man in a dress would go down and I have to admit it I bottled it. I decided to go out dressed as a man, despite the fact I have more fun tarted up.

Turns out though I shouldn’t really have worried, whilst the headline act who we wanted to see was all woman, both of the support acts had cross-dressing men in them. One because they had a man standing in for their regular drummer and as they were the She Creatures, they had him squeezed into a sequinned dress - Although sadly they hid him at the back so it was hard to get any pictures of that particular vision of loveliness.

The next act made up for that however, as the crossdresser was their lead singer, who whilst not in a dress and was a self proclaimed vision. Although somewhat randomly choosing to open with their lead singer declaring he was here to “bitchslap us”, Billie the Vision and the Dancers put on a great show with an abundance of energy and whilst I might not have called the band dancers, they certainly bounced around the stage a lot - I may not have been bouncing, but I’d be lying if I said my foot wasn’t tapping throughout their set.

They are also kind enough to have their music online for download, with a pay what you think it’s worth policy and I have to admit that it’s certainly worth a listen and parting with a little cash for - If you only listen to one of their songs try Lily from Middleway Street.

As to the headline act themselves, I’ve not mentioned their name for a reason - It’s so I can save their photo for tomorrow.

*As well as me friends getting me to come out dressed up, they also suggested I should have a name. I tried Jessica, but ultimately settled on Dave.

In a surprising turn of events, despite going out with a camera last nigh I only took one photo (and even that was on my cameraphone whilst amusing myself waiting for the train). - Still for a photo of me it doesn’t look to bad.

I have to admit that I felt somewhat naked with out my camera*, but I have to admit I actually had a great time out. Normally because of the camera I have to stay clear of the foam at a foam party, but stripped of my camera and after a couple of drinks I had no such worries.

*And even more naked on the repeated occasions I was forced to take my shirt off.

…For a week at least, luckily however Wales isn’t another country as I can’t find my passport at the moment.

I would say I am taking a holiday, as I do have a week off of work whilst I am there, but I will still be working. That is if you consider taking photos of drunk students work. I said last year that was going to be my last Freshers’ and I was wrong, so I won’t say that this year will be my last Freshers’ Week - Merely that it’s the 10th I will have attended.

The above picture is about the limit of my skill with a pen or pencil and shows why I stick to using a camera when doing portraits. I might only be an average photographer, but I am certainly a sub-par illustrator.

Photoshop is a very useful tool, indeed any program for photo editing is useful, but they always have more filters than you know what to do with, for every unsharp mask there are 5 artistic filters that usually produce dubious results (at least in my hands as you can see above).