It’s been a tough 2010 for the go-go scene, but in the near future there’ll be at least one moment for celebration: Mayor Adrian Fenty plans to rename a street in the U Street corridor after Anthony “Little Benny” Harley, the beloved go-go figure and former Rare Essence member who died in May.
Well, it’s not quite a street. And the event won’t happen this Saturday, as Take Me Out to the Go-Go reported last week via blog post and (awesome) YouTube vid, nor will it take place at 9th and U streets NW. Little Benny’s road will actually be the alley off of 11th Street NW between U and T streets.
As for the event: This Saturday didn’t line up with the Fenty’s schedule, says Kate Stanton, a communications specialist in the Mayor’s Office. But it’ll happen in the near future, she says. Once I hear a date, I’ll post it here.
While Fenty publicly mourned Benny and has been holding go-go fundraisers, things aren’t easy for the genre: Much of the area’s go-go activity takes place in the suburbs, while the Metropolitan Police Department circulates a “go-go report” every two weeks, which police use to monitor concerts.