Hard French was THE perfect ending to what turned out to be a rollercoaster ride of pride for your browntourage. Filled with smiling faces, bright colors, and bumping beats, it was such a breath of fresh air compared to the wasted underage day-raver congestion of civic center.

Arriving just in time for Portland based DJ Beyondadoubt, the Browntourage was ready to twerk it. What we didn’t know was that Casey (Beyondadoubt) had a treat in store for us. Enter performer Isaiah Tillman to stage-center. 6’5” with a physique worthy of a marble statue, Isaiah WORKED THAT BODY LIKE THE FIFTH ELEMENT.

Tonia’s View from the crowd:

I remember having a conversation with a group of people of how we need a magazine where everything is modeled by Isaiah.

Each person had their own intimate connection with the performance usually expressed in their own unique orgasmic moaning and yearning for more from this divine combination of booty bounce, contortionism, and voguing.

All this fun felt deeply personal when Tillman spoke up with inspirational messages of personal struggle and self-love that essentially brought everyone to tears of joy. Coming from a series of uncomfortable situations involving my own body, hearing Tillman’s words put me in such a proud place with myself with love for those around. For one of the first times with my sexuality, I felt a whole new meaning of PRIDE.

Hawa’s View from the stage:

When I’m shooting, it’s hard to have the perspective of seeing what I do without technology in front of my eyes. There was a point where I snapped a picture, looked at the image and my face grew big with awe and I had to look up and relish that moment. The crowd in front of the stage could tell I saw something enlightening and laughed at the crazed look on my face. Watching Isaiah for the rest of their performance felt very spiritual. It wasn’t just their capacity to push the bounds of the physical body through contortion and effortless dance, it was the pep talks on the mic in between numbers and sheer commitment to their art you could see with every bead of sweat on their body. Being in the presence of someone so talented…it’s hard to put words to it really.

The extreme bond of mutual appreciation from Tillman to the rest of the crowd consummated itself when the stage opened up for everyone to dance together, embody pride, and build a space of support (something that is hard to feel if you aren’t already a part of the “scene”). We are so so so glad Casey brought Isaiah to San Francisco, and the Browntourage will forever have Tillman’s back. We can’t wait to see what the future has in store for Tillman, we can only dream of our ideal collaborations (Mykki Blanco? Zebra Katz? Ladosha?).

AND IF YOU DON’T KNOW, NOW YOU KNOW. MORE PERSONAL INTERVIEW COMING SOON.

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