So, I am clearly going to have my work cut out for me when it comes down to nailing down my favorite events for 2013. And Glow 2013 is a fierce contender! Free Time and the fellas of 1st Friday teamed up and took their show from Mike Shannon’s to the Atomic Cowboy in the Mangrove. I’ll admit I took it as a downsizing –until I arrived. The Atomic Cowboy outdoor space is absolute life! The fancy furniture and set-up had me feeling like all the power players in the STL had escaped for an ultra-sexy island getaway, and Saturday night was the grand finale party. But for me the party began with the people watching on the never ending journey from my parking space. I mean, where else but the…let’s just say colorful scene of the Mangrove, can you accidently bump into a man dressed up as the Tin Man on a Saturday night in August? And by dressed up, I mean spray painted silver (head to toe) with matching hot pants and Jodeci boots. And I saw more Dollar Tree replicas of Beyoncé’s new “Cadillac Records” inspired haircut than I thought humanly possible – and not just from the girls (what? It was the Mangrove). But back to Glow. You know you’re doing something right when you’re at capacity OUTSIDE. I got my life from everyone who came through – including Tim and Jenae from “Welcome To Sweetie Pie’s,” Jibbs, comedian Jovan Bibbs and Eddie from SYGU to name a few. DJ Reminisce and Shadzilla kept the crowd hyped too. There were some folks in the building from ATL who stopped through the party and one of them was like “I didn’t know St. Louis gets down like this.” She could tell from my “girl, bye” side-eye that our club scene can be about that life – even to an ATLien. Thanks Free Time and 1st Fridays for showing those out of town folks how we do it in “The Lou.”