It's Thursday, I’m sitting in Starbucks in Times Square. It’s raining and the day is dragging. I had just met Albie Manzo from the hit bravo series Manzo’d with Children, starring his mother, former cast member of the Real Housewives of New Jersey, Caroline Manzo. It was so random, I never imagined any of the Jersey stars coming to the city unless it was for promo. He was very nice and took a picture with me.
I had just finished reading Real Housewives of New York City’s star Ramona Singer’s book “Life on the Ramonacoaster” while sipping a pumpkin spice iced coffee and eating a warm chocolate croissant. It had just turned 4pm, a long far cry from my girl Kitty’s show at Baby’s All Right, my absolute favorite venue in Williamsburg, and her 10pm set time. But I decided to head down there anyways hoping the bar would be ready and open for their iconic 5-8pm Happy Hour. Upon arrival, I discovered that Happy Hour was NOT happening because they were still renovating. An hour or so later, Kitty and her husband Sam arrived to check in. She greeted me warmly with a “You’re here early!” As she hugged me. I told her "well I have no life and I hate myself so yeah." It felt so good to see and hug her again after a whole two years and seeing her with a genuine smile, happiness radiating from her like a ray of sunshine. After they set up and settled in, Sam came out and introduced himself to me. I thanked him for making my friend so happy and informed him that we would be doing pictures soon.
We started the shoot with a picture of them standing by the bar. Then I went to the bar to enjoy some cheap beer and veggie tacos. Before I knew it, it was 9:55 so I headed into the show space as Kitty set up her gear to play. She came out with a giant pink inflatable flamingo, which her husband ended up sitting on to watch and cheer her on with their friend and tour manager Grant. Kitty started her set introducing herself saying "Hello my name is Kitty and I’m gonna play for you. I suck I know but whatever lets go."
Once she finished her last song she ran off stage, and the staff began to setup for Ricky Eat Acid's set. The set was simple and although not my kind of music, I could appreciate it for what it was and it was still thoroughly enjoyable! Especially watching Kitty on the pink flamingo staring lovingly at her Husband as he played his music. One i thing I really enjoyed about Ricky's set were his visuals. He played various movie scenes to accompany his tracks creating a unique experience. They told me how happy they were to see /meet me and thanked me for my endless support. I took several pictures of them before hugging them one final time. For their last picture against the American flag, I told them to give me an "I now pronounce you husband and wife," and before I could even finish the famous saying they were already embraced.
Seeing Kitty and Sam together made me believe. Believe in love, believe in faith, and believe in happiness and myself. You can catch the duo on tour as they travel across the United States.
Follow kitty on twitter at twitter.com/kittavelli And Ricky Eat Acid on twitter.com/rickyeatacid