WHAT A ROTTEN ROCK 'n' roll weekend it was! Mean goths, shivering Block Party goers, and the proverbial traffic jam from Hell outside the Ani DiFranco show at Snoqualmie Winery. It all started out friendly enough on Friday afternoon....

Occasionally It's My Party strays off of the beaten rock club path and checks out dance spots in town. Last Friday we did just that, and ventured to three locations, each of varying clientele and dress code. First off we jumped into Wm.™ Steven Humphrey's Jeep and headed out to Tukwila, where we experienced the new-to-us Riverside Inn, a two-steppin' country-western bar that also offers casino-style gambling. Though we weren't sporting cowboy duds or pointy boots, we were treated with the utmost kindness and hospitality. I didn't dance, but enjoyed watching others' fancy footwork, and was thrilled with the showmanship of the house band. From there we traveled back to town and checked into the Bad JuJu Lounge on 11th Ave between Pike and Pine. This liquor-bearing lounge was less inviting... as a matter of fact, it was such a bummer that we left without ordering a drop. Maybe in a few weeks we'll check back and see how things are going.... We'd heard rumblings of a new club called Mercury hiding under Auto Battery Auto Parts, and walked over there despite the slight drizzle. Hump's a big booze snob, so he politely inquired of the woman in line behind us whether Mercury had a liquor license. The big-boned gal, festooned with a dog collar and prominent septum piercing, took one look at our Adidas and icily informed us that Mercury was, in fact, a Private Club. She practically dislocated her eyeballs looking down at us while inquiring whether or not we had a "membership." I love encountering nits like this, so it was with great pleasure that after only a few words with the manager, we waltzed right in, without paying the $10 membership fee that anyone can attain if they have the dough. Mercury is essentially a goth/industrial/pretend-fetish club, pretentious beyond all get-out. It's the kind of place where they do what my friend Barbara likes to call the "bent-over-looking-for-a-contact dance," an apt description to which I might add "oh-my-achin'-back" to describe the accompanying hand gestures. We may have looked nerdy in our athletic shoes, and Hump with his RED racing jacket, but just about everyone writhing on the dance floor, save for the staff, was lumpen and unattractive, and hardly fashion savvy. We gulped down our tasty drinks and hightailed it out of there, never to darken that alleyway again. Thanks, but no thanks.

The next day it was off to the Third Annual Capitol Hill Block Party, which was enjoying bien tiempo somewhere in the 50-degree range. Capitol Hill takes its al fresco drinking seriously, however, so the cocktail garden was packed despite the unseasonably frigid weather. Several revelers took time out between sets by Bonfire Madigan, Love as Laughter, and the Vaccines to purchase woolly gloves from the neighboring surplus store.

Sunday was the big Ani DiFranco show at newish venue Snoqualmie Winery, and what a fiasco that was! Freeway exits were mismarked; shuttle buses were few, very far between, and severely overcrowded; and ticket-holders waited three to five HOURS to gain entry to the show--and those were the lucky ones. Hundreds of fans missed the show altogether. Tasstixx is said to be giving full refunds, so if you're out your $33.50 ticket price, go to www.kmtt.com to find out how to get your scratch back.

More transportation woes? Krist Novoselic bought a retired Metro bus to shuttle the Sweet 75/Sky Cries Mary West Coast tour. Too bad it broke down before they even got out of town. Dee Plakas and Susan Gardner from L7 showed up backstage at the gig in L.A; Plakas wore an L7 baby-T in case no one recognized her. Rumors persisted that Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins were also in the house.