The empty lot that made a temporary home for the 2009 Capitol Hill Garage Sale hosted another event last night but this one was more secret and featured a lot more boogeying. People's Parking Lot reports a 'guerrilla dance party' broke out in the lot on Pine at Belmont last night around midnight. The Stranger's Christopher Frizzelle was there:
The kicked up dust: New Depression-era fog machine. The cops standing outside of their vehicles, their blues and reds flashing: government-provided scenery. The music: Rhianna's "Please Don't Stop the Music," Destiny's Child's "No, No, No," Dolly Parton's "9 to 5"... Which begged the question: where the fuck was the Michael Jackson? Made my way to the DJ—hats off to the DJ for sticking his neck out like that and for getting all his gear set up out there—to request some Michael Jackson, and the DJ replied, "No, sorry, this is the last song." And then the cops were upon us.
The PPL post also gathers some choice Tweets about the event by a none-too-happy neighbor.
Heard on the scanner from the East Precinct's response to the flash mob:
- A scramble to find an unlocked police car to haul a public address speaker to tell the dancers to go home, presumably
- A report that westbound Pine was briefly blocked by revelers
- A relieved sounding officer reporting the crowd was dispersing around 12:30 AM.
Elsewhere on the Hill last night, a strong-arm robbery at Chop Suey sent a man to the hospital and officers also responded to an assault outside the Rosebud where there was a report of a man attacking a woman and a fight breaking out.