“It’s going to sound silly, but there is no place like home,” 29-year-old veteran party organizer Tracy Buchholz said. “My heart was always here in Philly.”
Luckily for Philly, the rest of her has joined her heart.
The out impresario had spent years masterminding area LGBTQ events like Emerge, Elevate and Action, but has been semi-retired from the party business for the last two years.
Until now.
“I had moved out to California for a little bit,” she said. “I used to throw events all the time and since I’ve been back, my friends and I just felt like there was a lack of places to go to really go out for the night to dance, drink and socialize for the whole night. They kept pushing me to start throwing parties again. So I guess I finally caved in.”
Even though parties are a way of life in the City of Angels, Buchholz said the vibe is completely different than that in Philly.
“For one thing, everything is gay out in L.A.,” she explained. “Here, it’s still a little bit different. We have our Gayborhood. If anything, it’s probably helped me realize that you can definitely throw an event outside of the Gayborhood. When I first threw an event, it was years ago at Goosebumps, which is also in South Philly, and that has been well received. I definitely wanted to try that again.”
Buchholz plans to end her retirement in grand fashion with her party The Scene at 10 p.m. Jan. 24 at Vesuvio, 736 S. Eighth St., targeting the entire LGBTQ crowd.
“With me, growing up I always had a lot of gay friends as well as my lesbian friends,” she said. “I don’t know if it’s a generational thing, but I always liked hanging out in a mixed area, which is why on my own time, going to a place like Bump or Stir is appealing to me. But those places don’t have dance floors and they’re good places to start the night but not always places to end the night. I was trying to find a neutral venue where everybody can feel comfortable, which is why I like Vesuvio. It’s a clean venue in terms of no one has ever used it before. It’s not known as a guys’ place or a girls’ place to go. So hopefully everybody is going to have the curiosity factor to go check it out.”
The party promises to keep the crowd moving with the area’s best DJ talent.
“We’re going to have different DJs each month,” Buchholz said. “This month we’re going to have Just Jess. She does a lot of different LGBTQ parties as well as straight parties. She’s known throughout the DJ culture in Philly.”
Buchholz added that while The Scene isn’t being marketed to straight partygoers, it is open to any and all who want to attend.
“I’m advertising to anybody that wants to have a good time,” she said. “First and foremost, even with finding the venue, is to make sure everything is gay-friendly. So this party is for the LGBT community as well as straight allies and friends.”
For more information, visit www.myspace.com/thescenephilly or call (215) 922-8380.
Larry Nichols can be reached at [email protected].