Redlight Redlight

Terry had a tip from someone that there would be pirates at Redlight Redlight (72 Bennett Road). She was right, as soon as we entered we were faced with pirates galore muscling up to the bar. One pirate with a patch over his eye was a former Disney Feature Animation artist named John Hurst. John and his wife bought the Cameo theater on Colonial and he has turned it into an amazing raw venue where I often find myself sketching. Terry pulled out her real fencing sword and challenged a pirate who pulled out his musket. “you should never bring a foil to a pistol fight” he said. Outside a group of pirates were setting up a 5 pound cannon and aiming it at the Roxy night club across the street. They set the charge and then waited for traffic to clear. The blast took me by surprise and I almost spilled my beer.
I stalked pirates all night but they were constantly on the move. I finally decided to sit on a comfy couch and I sketched Rick Jones’s birthday, his girlfriend Katherine Sullivan was at his side. Everyone at the table wore newspaper pirates caps which Rick continued to fold as needed. Hannah Miller stopped in and sat on the couch with me for a while to talk, then she joined the party at the table for the rest ot the night. I was drinking a light tasting honey ale and I liked it. I expected a band of pirates to gather in the background at any moment but they never did. Later Chad Bruce explained to me that pirate garb is rather heavy and hot so they were most likely outside to stay cool. An important lesson learned if you want to sketch pirates in their natural environment.