Yacht Rock 2013 Sets New Standard For Tucson Parties

Clif Taylor’s keening guitar solos stood in for the ubiquitous ’70s saxophone parts as David Slutes crooned the era’s hits and the waxing moon out-romanced any lava-lamp-lit waterbed for the second Yacht Rock party at La Cocina. As the Platinum Foxes played, hilariously vamped and occasionally dogpaddled through under-rehearsed material and requests, some partiers, including co-organizer Kenny Stewart, joined the performance by bringing their period-sleaze costumes and funky dance moves to the front of the stage. It was a vision of ’70s porn stars, but the clothes, by and large, stayed on.

• Noelle Haro-Gomez
• Party co-organizers Kenny Stewart and Kitty Kat McKinley are photo-bombed by lovely yachtresses.

The cantina floor was packed with dancers for DJ sets of 70s favorites and what might have been a curated i-tunes search for 70s songs mentioning oceans, islands and sails. Starbuck’s “Moonlight Feels Right”; Player’s “Baby Come Back”; the Doobie Brothers’ “What a Fool Believes”; The Steve Miller Band’s “Fly Like an Eagle”; Ace’s “How Long Has This Been Goin’ On”; Walter Egan’s “Magnet and Steel”; and tracks by Bozz Scaggs and Gerry Rafferty were representative, but the tunes got louder and faster as the night progressed.

Co-organizer Kitty Kat McKinley was everywhere, keeping conversation groups and dancers going like plates spinning on broomsticks. Inside and out, La Cocina was full of happy, chattering and drinking party-goers, most posing cute at some point for a theme photo — kinda like prom.

Two photographers covered everyone who wanted to be seen, but the greatest photo ops involved a boat with an “island sunset” backdrop painted by muralist and co-organizer Joe Pagac. In case you want to try it at home, Pagac has helpfully created a YouTube video: How to Paint a Tropical Island Sunset.

A slideshow of some of the shenanigans follows.

Yacht Party 2013

This article appears in Jun 20-26, 2013.