Archive (Fall 2021): Reemergence...

Welcome to The Metro Underground…  We’re Back!

It’s been some time since The Metro went into hibernation. But we’re finally back & ready for the days ahead! Some 15 years ago it all started as a crazy idea for a dating site. But my partner handling the tech was in a custody battle, so the project got put on a back shelf. Then in 2008 I realigned the initial concept & launched early efforts for what soon became The Metro Underground: “Your gateway to the Full Spectrum of the alternative, adult, & underground scene for DC, Baltimore, & the Mid-Atlantic (from Philly to Richmond) - building bridges from one culture to another, & one group to the next.”

It’s been a long road, so we’ll keep this one short & sweet…

First & foremost, our main site is back up w/ calendars updated & a full rebuild now complete. The world is slowly reemerging from a long & arduous quarantine. But given the new norm, the scene remains in a state of flux, so we’ll be making continuous updates as things evolve for the months ahead. Social media is also active, so be sure to check us out.

The Metro Online:  http://www.themetrounderground.com  

When Covid started, I knew the recovery wouldn’t be like flipping a switch. It would be a process: things would recover in phases, then businesses & the economy would regroup, & finally people would come out of the haze to align for a new world. This has indeed come to pass, & while social unrest has been as much of a problem as anything else, we are adjusting to the needs of the day & slowly moving forward.

With this in mind, The DC Fetish Ball has been moving ahead with this year’s main event. Coming Sunday, Oct 10th (Indigenous Peoples Weekend): Richard A.D. & The Metro Underground present “Reemergence!” – Somewhere between Quarantine & The Fetish Ball, you find ‘Reemergence.’

‘Reemergence’ will be a Fully Vaxxed event, & we’re keeping our promotional focus to a regional vs national campaign. Certain accommodations have been made to keep things safe for all. But the Vaxxed world is moving forward & so are we. In truth, we have a number of factors in play. So if the crowds of years past have put you off, then this might be the perfect opportunity to come out & see what it’s all about.

For Talent, Tickets, Links, & More see: https://www.dcfetishball.com

Metro Events you say? Remember those? We’d like to help bring those memories back to life. So a full roll-out for galleries are finally under way. It’s been a long time coming, but that time has finally come. Please keep an eye out…

• Facebook: facebook.com/groups/131545809506
• Fetlife: fetlife.com/groups/4756
• Instagram: Instagram.com/themetrounderground
• Twitter: Twitter.com/metroundergrnd
• Youtube: youtube.com/channel/UCaq4QTI4MoH_Qr6i29MB_8Q

And finally, we are slowly revising the invite list for Underground Parties. We are holding off on hosting U-Parties for a while, but we’re taking this time to update our contact list for future gatherings. We’ll be in touch if you’re a member of that list, so please keep an eye out.

It’s been a long & difficult 2 years, & we’re still not quite out of it. But we’re making progress & vaxxed life is good life. So we’re moving forward & hope to see you out sometime soon.

Be well, stay healthy, & keep the fires burning bright!

Rick D~
(Richard A.D.)

The Metro Underground: http://www.themetrounderground.com
The DC Fetish Ball Presents Reemergence: https://www.dcfetishball.com

Newsletter through Blogspot: http://metronewsletter.blogspot.com

Archive: Spring 2020

Coming Soon for the Spring Party Season: Events, News, & More!

From Richard A.D. & The Metro Underground...

Closing out the winter months, the spring party season is now upon us! Just in time, our annual build-out for The Metro Underground is now complete. 

The main site has been fully revised with a complete rebuild. All calendars, as well as listings for clubs, groups, & various resources have all been updated. Initial efforts for Metro Events, Underground Parties, & Scene Socials have also been established (but may evolve as the weeks progress).

So we'd like to offer a few insights for the coming year, some dates to put on your calendar, & a few thoughts on how to best use The Metro & all it entails. 

Calendar insights for the coming months: the planets have aligned for one hell of a year! 

• Valentine's fell on a Friday w/ Feb 15th marking 10 years since Dirk's tragic passing.
• We will see Friday the 13th in both March & November. The planets have aligned for March 13th to host our first Scene Social of the year. So we gather to celebrate The Great Celtic Revival, immediately followed by Steak & Blowjob Day! What could possibly go wrong?
• Hugh Hefner's Birthday falls on Easter weekend to make way for the ultimate Bunny Ball. This will be immediately followed by Cake & Cunnilingus Day!
• Beltane falls on a Friday, beginning an epic weekend for the pagan celebration of life, love, & the coming of summer.
• Cinco de Mayo is on Taco Tuesday.
• Memorial Day will host the 25th Anniversary Weekend for Fetish Factory (Ft.Lauderdale).
• In June, SummerIsle, The Free Spirit Gathering, the Pagan Spirit Gathering, & Fusion will all be held over the Summer Solstice.
• July 4th is a Full Moon Saturday, & with Monday off it will be a 3-day weekend.
• Pennsic 'Carnival' w/ Die Fledermaus will take place on the apex of a Full Moon.
• Labor Day Weekend & ALL the events that go with it will all take place during a full moon.
• Sept 16th hosts the 400th anniversary for the Mayflower setting sail. The following Saturday is Talk Like a Pirate Day (Puritans vs Impuritans? This should be a thing).  
• Halloween is on a Saturday, it will be a Full Blue Moon (twice in the same month), & we set our clocks back that night!
• November will bring the most important election of our generation. This will be immediately followed by Guy Fawkes Day. Coincidence?  :-o
• This year, Thanksgiving is on a Thursday w/ Black Friday on a Friday.  :-)
• Krampusnacht DC falls on the actual Krampus Night worldwide (Sat Dec 5th). This will also host the anniversary for the National Repeal of Prohibition.
• Xmas falls on a Friday thus making a 3-day weekend.
• Richard A.D.'s Birthday will fall on Hump Day under a Full Moon (the possibilities are endless).
• New Years Day falls on a Friday, thus allowing NYE to lead off another 3-day weekend.

Save the Date!

• March - Coming Friday the 13th, Scene Socials present: The Great Celtic Revival. Last year's gathering was so successful we decided to make it an annual tradition!
       Since our inception, The Metro Underground has carried one central focus: to create a forum for people to connect & bring those of a like mind together. Scene Socials strive to do just that. Offered as more casual affairs, they are a chance to connect on a deeper level over drinks, good food, & honest conversation. So please join us as we gather good friends old & new for The Great Celtic Revival! We're set for O'Connell's in Alexandria (112 King Street, Alexandria, Va) & have the UPSTAIRS Bar to the back of the pub reserved as a dedicated space. If needed, just ask for the Fitzgerald Room. Kickoff is planned for 8:30pm & we'll go 'till close.
• April - U-Parties present: The Prohibition Speakeasy Formal. Moving into spring, we continue this year's rolling theme with The Roaring 20's Speakeasy! Celebrating the ultimate trifecta of absolute possibility: the anniversary for the repeal of prohibition to beer & wine, Hugh Hefner's birthday on Easter Weekend for the ULTIMATE Bunny Ball, & the fertility rite of spring through the annual ritual of Eostre. Throw in Yuri's night for added measure (the 1st man in space) & you have one hell of a party!
• May - Memorial Day Weekend, The Metro Underground takes to the road for a Fetish Factory Road Trip! Offering 5 Days & 9 Parties for a full hotel takeover, we're on our way to Ft. Lauderdale for the Fetish Factory 25th Anniversary Weekend (possibly the biggest, baddest, & most amazing fetish event in North America). The Metro & Friends will be there in force as DC travels to Florida for an unbelievable time not to be missed! We welcome you to join us... 
• July - Underground Parties present: "WET" Coming in July, we're planning a pool party like only The Metro can do it! Providing an outdoor torture garden, clothing optional pool area, hot tub, indoor multi-zone play-space, Sybian, fire play, shibari/rope, violet wand, hot wax & daggers, hitachi scene play, bar & buffet, plus some of the hottest people the scene has to offer - THIS is one party you won't want to miss!
• And MORE! Please check our main calendars for a vast array of events & gatherings from all aspects of the scene.

How to Best Use Our Site:

For 12+ years, we've spent an enormous amount of time, energy, & resource to keep you in the loop & fully informed. No doubt, The Metro Underground offers the most comprehensive resource of its kind for any metropolitan area anywhere in world. We pride ourselves on these efforts, but so much information can often be a bit overwhelming. So we'd like offer a few insights to get the most out of our endeavor & all it has to offer.

We exist across various platforms of social media which include: Facebook, Fetlife, Instagram, Twitter, & archived news through Blogspot. These help to augment our efforts, but the real action takes place on our Main Site: TheMetroUnderground.com.

Our homepage provides a great overview for what the full site has to offer. Found within, you then have various pages for both our own initiatives as well as what's offered by the scene as a whole. On each page, individual listings are then categorized & color coded according to their core intent: Alternative Cultures & Music in Rust - BDSM & Fetish in Red - Lifestyle & Swingers in Green - Gay, Bi, & TS/TG in Wine or Purple, & Mainstream in White.  

Calendars: at the center of everything you have our calendars. The Gateway Page provides links for the various calendars available, plus featured events, regional concerts, & a full listing of music venues in the area. From here you can access any one of our 3 main offerings:

• The Main Calendar provides a FULL listing of all regional events from across the scene. This is offered in one continuous scroll day by day & month by month.
• Recurring Events are those affairs that are of a consistent & ongoing nature. They are presented on their own page, but also create the backbone of the main calendar. If you're looking for something more general, then this might be a good place to start.
• National Events then cover those major events of significant note - both regionally, nationally, & worldwide. Most of these are offered in a weekend format, so if you're looking for a big get-away, then this is a more focused list to find what you seek.

One important note for the Main Calendar: the level of information carried there can be a bit daunting. If you simply scroll the page then things can get a bit muddled. So we suggest you slow down & focus on a particular day or weekend to see what catches your eye. Color coding helps to quickly define the nature of each event. A quick write up offers some insight, then links provided offer you an immediate gateway to the promoter in question.

Clubs & Groups: all combined, these create the core foundation that is the scene. Clubs are more open to the public & generally more commercial in nature. Groups tend to carry a more cohesive nature & sometimes may require vetting. Each page is broken down by region then listings are categorized & coded by the nature of their intent. Adjacent to Clubs & Groups, we also offer a Mainstream Page. Here we offers various organizations & resources of a strictly mainstream nature.

News & Notes:  here we cover various news items for the scene. Striving to keep you 'in the know' & fully informed, this is one section that is in a constant state of flux. We usually offer a short write-up as items become known to us, then update the newsletter on a quarterly basis. Metro items are also covered here. But in general, this is one area where we use Social Media to maintain a more timely feed for what's going on.

Metro Events & Underground Parties: these pages cover our own endeavors for various gatherings w/in the scene. Metro Events offer a variety of gatherings & includes updates for The DC Fetish Ball (our marquee event for the year),  Scene Socials, Metro Travel, & Co-hosted affairs. Underground Parties are then focused as more exclusive invite-only play parties with a fully explicit nature. By design these are presented as a swinger / kink crossover.

Scene Guide: finally, our scene guide breaks down into 3 main sections:

• Articles: for those who are new to the scene, or those who are new to one particular aspect of another scene beyond your own, we've written several articles to provide a better understanding of various aspects to each culture in question. We also list a items such as 'how to best use our site' & an A-Z glossary of common terms, etc. 
• Resource: offering links & key information for everything from scene based media, to match sites & social media, cultural links, local resources, & more.
• Culture: offers a few select listing for regional performers, fashion, & more.

 Then of course, our full endeavor moves well beyond the main site to include:

·  The Metro Underground: http://www.themetrounderground.com.

·  The DC Fetish Ball: http://dcfetishball.com.

·  Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/131545809506.

·  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themetrounderground

·  Fetlife Group:  https://fetlife.com/groups/4756.

·  Twitter: https://twitter.com/MetroUndergrnd.

·  Newsletter via Blogspot: http://metronewsletter.blogspot.com.

·  Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/TheMetroUnderground.

One final note: please understand that nothing about this is hap-hazard. We've given tremendous consideration to what we've assembled. The various cultures each stand independently onto themselves, but each also share a strong degree of crossover from one aspect of the scene to the other. Taken as a whole, you find the full spectrum of The Metro Underground.

So we hope you'll continue to use it as the resource for which it was intended. Our concept is unique, but our mission is simple: to serve as a fundamental gateway to the full spectrum of the alternative subculture for DC, Baltimore, & the Mid-Atlantic Region (running from Philly to Richmond). Through effective promotions & PR, we strive to provide a more synergistic forum to help lift the fog for what's going on in & around the area, assist in the promotion of the scene as a whole, & ultimately provide a means for bridges to be built - from one culture to another, & from one group to the next.

Still with me? Wow... Thank you for reading! Speaking for myself & the rest of the scene, we hope to see you out & about sometime soon!  Wishing you all the best that life has to offer.

Rick D~

(Richard A.D)

The Metro Underground & DC Fetish Ball.

Metro Events, Underground Parties, & Scene Socials.

Archive: December 2019.

With the holidays now upon us, the busy party season is in full swing! We trust you had a good Thanksgiving & hope your Yuletide Holidays are filled w/ friendship, joy, & the coming light of a new year. December always has so much going on that we like to offer a special addition to our seasonal newsletter, keeping you in touch & up to date for days ahead!

Metro calendars, clubs, groups, news & notes have all been updated so please check it out.  Calendars run until the end of the year, after which we take a few days to do our annual build-out. This is usually up sometime around MLK Weekend.  In the meantime, here are a few notable happenings to keep an eye on…

But these are only a select events from a complete spectrum for what's in the works. Please see our main calendars for links & a complete outlay of what's happening across the scene: http://www.themetrounderground.com

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Fri 6th (St.Nicholas Day): 

·        DCAS Happy Hour - Holiday party for one of DC's best gatherings for the kink set.

·        Sinn-Ergy's Holiday Party (Sinnergy): A special holiday affair & lavish event by sinnergy.

Sat 7th:  Naughty & Nice converge at the Gallery O on H Street for the 8th Annual Krampusnacht DC!

According to ancient lore, St. Nicholas actually had several attendants - one of which was the horned satyr Krampus. Whereas Santa would reward good girls & boys, Krampus would appear to punish those children who were bad. In this tradition, Krampusnacht DC offers an age old celebration to benefit an amazing cause for DC's foster kids. Bringing you an incredible night of artistic expression, talented performance, family fun, & revelry for all, Krampusnacht represents one of the area’s most unique events & the perfect way to kick off the holiday season.  Please note: this event takes place outdoors so please dress accordingly.

• Main Page: http://krampusnachtdc.com
• Krampus on Youtube:  https://youtu.be/n3Lh5YIvSlo 
• Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/KrampusnachtDC       
  

Tues 10th: Dinner w/ Domme's Holiday Party - A special dinner held at Uno's Chicago Grill in Union Station. Presented for the area's more prominent Pro-Domme's & those who love them. 

Saturday 14th:

·        Naughty Snowball - Massive Burner Ball by Mischief DC at The DC Eagle.

·        Krampus Fest Baltimore - By Shadow Woods Productions at Rituals.

·        Tabu XXXmas - Lifestyle Holiday Party & one of their best events.

·        Avalon Holiday Party - High energy dance party & drag show at Soundcheck DC.

·        Distrikt-C - Special fetish dance night at Karma DC (10pm-6am).

Sun 15th:  The Final DC Rope - Artistic Educational get together for all things rope, bondage, & Shibari. After 5 years w/ a strong presence in the scene, the leadership of DC Rope has decided to step away & move on to new endeavors. December will host their last round of classes.

Sat 21st (Winter Solstice / Yule):  Underground Parties Present: A Mid-Winter Speakeasy Formal! As we move into 2020, we bring back the flavor & decadance of the Roaring 20's. So please join us for an Underground Speakeasy as only The Metro can do it! Venue is pending so please check our main site for vetting & location. Just tell 'em Rick sent ya. 

Sun 22nd: Hanukkah.

Tues 24th (X-mas Eve):  Please join us at the Old Ebbitt Grill as Santa Takes Flight! This is a long standing tradition for The Metro Underground & open to all. The holidays are a crazy time. But our gathering on X-mas Eve has seriously grown over the years & offers a perfect respite from holiday mayhem. It’s a great chance to gather our scene-based family & truly connect over drinks, good food, & good conversation. So if you don’t have plans (or might want to escape the plans you have), then please join us at the Old Ebbitt Grill for a chance to unwind & connect before the holiday mayhem takes hold.

Fri Dec 27th: GWAR w/ Unearth - Live at the 9:30 Club, NW DC.

Tues 31st (New Year's Eve):

·        Fidelium XII - High end underground affair for the capitol hill crowd by Balaibalan Productions. 

·        The Crucible NYE Party - Holds open play or scheduled theme nights.

·        Touch of Flavor NOLA on NYE - Hosted by Touch of Flavor at the Baltimore Playhouse.

·        Sinn-Ergy's New Year's Ball - A grand event for DC & one of the most lavish affairs for the region.

·        Tabu NYE Gala Event - Lifestyle Social & Play Party hosted On-Premise in Catonsville, MD.

·        The Private Affair NYE - Lifestyle social play party hosted on-premise in Northeast MD.

·        Shadows New Year's Eve Masquerade - On-Premise Play Parties in Hyattsville, MD.

·        Pleasure Garden Club NYE Ball - TPA is one of Philly's finest lifestyle parties.

·        Saints & Sinners NYE Gala - on-premise play party social by in Philadelphia.

·        Ziegfelds NYE in Drag - DC's Biggest & Best Drag Show (11pm).

·        National Gala - Mainstream black tie affair at the Ronald Reagan Building in DC.

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In Memorial:  as many have already heard, our community recently lost an icon. Frazier Botsford was the driving force & founder of The Crucible, Camp Crucible, LF&P, & a long-standing leader for the DC Scene. No doubt, his legacy carries far & his tireless efforts have touched the lives of many. Speaking personally, he & I actually go back well before the days of The Crucible - a lifetime ago when our younger selves were managing restaurants & pubs. I've always considered him a long standing friend well outside our efforts w/in the scene; efforts to which we always stood in deep support of each other.

It was a fond memory to host him for Xmas during the hiatus when the Crucible stood between locations. But once up & running, he was back at it, giving all of us orphans a home. Indeed, that's what he's always done, working tirelessly to give us a place where people of a like mind could gather & explore that side of us which stood true to our inner selves. I had donated my family's pool table to The Crucible because I wanted to find it just such a home. After the opening, we shot a round but something came up & we never finished the game. Perhaps in the next life, but I feel there's a lesson here. So much of our lives are often left unfinished, so always show you care & always carry forth a message of love to those who matter most. His legacy shall carry on, but he shall be missed. Rest well old friend. Soon enough, we shall all meet again upon the seas of time.

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Indeed, life is precious & our time together is not guaranteed. So please take this season to reach out & share a moment of love & friendship with those who matter most. From myself & The Metro Underground, may the holiday find you happy, healthy, & prosperous in all you hope to be.

Rick D~

(Richard A.D)

Archive: Metro Newsletter (Summer 2019).

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