Few of us in our lifetime will achieve the cool aloofness and concentration of this professional musician. And most of us would appear ridiculous (not nearly as hip) wearing a conical, horizontally-striped cap like the one covering our subject’s head. Somehow the keyboardist brings off his unflappable performance with ease and confidence — looking as if he is just cresting the wave of latest fashion. We encounter him working a private bacchanal, the organizers of which embrace a theme:

“We encourage creativity and imagination beyond the scope of tamed human minds.”

The horde of revelers — as well as the entertainers — to an individual man and woman adhere to this guideline. Costumed and sequined ladies prance and wiggle to the electronic music, performed by a hip-hop crew claiming to represent, “the wildest side of Appalachian party culture.” Live graffiti demonstrations and body-modification clinics got underway early in the far corners of the building; camera flashes seemed to light up every artist’s brush-stroke, each thrust of a piercing-needle, and each and every flourish of a tattoo iron.

Drag queens now gyrate their too narrow hips,

On display

With no inhibition, not a whisper of shame,

Parading themselves up and down singing maudlin tunes.

Meanwhile pole dancers writhe,

Flame twirlers twirl,

A female aerialist performs with journeyman skill above the entire circus,

While glassblowers and wood-carvers show off their hand-made artifacts on the floor below.

Deep into the evening, the fellow pictured below took the stage fronting a four-piece band. He excelled in the outrageous; the wildest of many wild performers, this singer definitely was not tame in his mind. However his voice, his lyrics and the music thundering from behind him failed to attract and excite a crowd. People began to form circles and light cigarettes. Attendees were still talking among themselves at high volume when our portrait subject #2 left the scene in a disgruntled mood.