I know, I know ... Charlotte is no N.Y.C. or L.A., but it's still a metropolitan city worthy of red carpet events - and we're rolling out the red carpet for YOU.
Sleeping Giant Productions is going to be E! and I will be the red carpet correspondant. And Sleeping Giant doesn't sleep on anything, so come red carpet ready ... although renting hundreds of thousands of dollars in jewelry, wearing a specialty made designer dress, and getting a colonic are not required. Just dress to impress (yourself).
Miami's Mark Leventhal will be DJ'ing with opening DJ Charlotte's own D-Rock. When a DJ has an opening act, you know he's good ... just saying. AND - DJ R Wonz, DJ Rob Reeves and DJ Fotizo will be spinning on the patio
Speaking of red carpets and paparazzi ...
This past year while attending the Sundance Film Festival I thought to myself ... Charlotte should have a film festival. Turns out, we do ... and parties too. But I highly doubt I'll have another moment with Paris Hilton in the bathroom of the event locations: Whisky River, Blackfinn, or Therapy, as I did at Sundance. See a list of film festival festivities here
Hopefully, I'll see you Saturday, but either way, just remember that you don't need to be taking a bite of the big apple or off in la la land to walk the red carpet.
I woke up Friday morning to the sound of a ferris wheel and a petting zoo being built right outside of my apartment. I walked out onto my balcony and to my left were live pigs in a cage, and to my right were pork smokers. Essentially – there was a full out county fair in the middle of Uptown Charlotte … the Blues, Brews, and BBQ Festival.
I’m just not comprehending the concept of having live pigs in the same vicinity as their pits of death like those little piggies were on death row. I personally don’t want to see Wilbur before I eat him. But considering how many people were in my front yard pigging out on pig, I am thinking that’s just me.
Tryon Street was like Taste of Charlotte – but all there was to taste was championship BBQ. With a hint of the Greek Festival that was on East Blvd.
The “city fair” was the Olympics of BBQ’ing, the pig chefs were wearing numbers like they were in a marathon. And they camped out (in the parking lot right across from my balcony) like at a NASCAR race.
And at the end of the night I watched all the policemen crowded around their trucks scarfing down BBQ – I suppose it was a nice change from donuts. And when the festival came to a close on Saturday night, the septic tank came and pumped out all the port-a-pottys (again, right in front of my balcony).
So, now my condo reeks of not only cooking pigs … but shit. (It kinda reminded me of my hometown in Virginia actually, which has a lingering aroma of chicken feed and manure). But those in my house thought it a good idea to place a wager on the game of Connect Four we were playing – loser has to go down and use the porta-potty. I lost. But then we decided we were all losers because we were playing Connect Four on a Saturday night.
When I went to bed the parking lot had emptied out and the streets re-opened… and then I woke up to a Panther’s Tailgate, which said parking lot magically transformed into overnight. There is always some sort of festival going on in Charlotte (usually right under my balcony apparently) … but up next is Festival in the Park, in Freedom Park starting Sept. 24
It’s the most wonderful time of the year… football season. Waking up last Saturday for the first day of college football season actually felt like Christmas morning.
My friend, Lisa, a hardcore Eagles fan fresh out of Philly, made it her personal mission to find a bar in Charlotte where she could watch her team (when they’re not playing here) without having to be interrupted by shit talking (about the team … not just Vick).
Based on game day patronage, different sports bars throughout Charlotte play for different teams — college and NFL. Dixie’s is the place Steelers fans can go wave their terrible towels, Buffalo Bills fans herd to Town Tavern and Tavern on the Tracks, Strike City is the official Buckeye bar, Clemson congregates at Stool Pigeons Uptown, Beantown in Matthews caters to the New England fans, and the Tarheels paint Angry Ale’s Carolina Blue … and pretty much every sports bar come to think of it.
Meanwhile, Blackfinn was officially stamped the Hokies Headquarters when the alumni packed the place during the ACC Championship game last year — that, and when Wild Wings changed the channel on the Virginia Tech – Georgia Tech basketball game … (don’t worry though, we won both). And an extra point for Blackfinn for playing music during commercials and an extra point for playing the VT fight song when we score.
Blackfinn is also a Florida and Giants bar. Meanwhile, Dilworth Grill has affiliations with Georgia, Michigan State, Auburn and WVU. Lake Norman Sports Grille has a bunch of cocks … as in South Carolina Gamecocks. Wild Wing at the Epicentre is where the Clemson fans go this year. And Bailey’s Sports Grill caters to the Alabama Crimson Tide. Boo! Yes, I’m still bitter – rip tide, R.I.P.
Oh, and Lisa eventually found a nesting spot for the Eagles and NFC East teams — Picassos on East Boulevard.
Considering there are practically enough sports bars in Charlotte to cover every team, all avid sports fans are bound to find a place where they can high five a fellow fan. Also on the roster of sports bars is 1300 SouthEnd Tavern , Jocks and Jills, Situations, Rookie’s Sports Bar and Grill, Sidelines, Hickory Tavern, Steamers Sports Pub, Fox and the Hound… and pretty much any bar that specializes in wings or has televisions. But when the Panthers are playing, every bar is a Panther’s bar – whether the transplants like it or not (sorry Lisa).
In NYC there’s a bar on 39th and Park called Red Sky and when the Redskins play girls get to drink free in the fourth quarter… now doesn’t that sound like a great idea. Hint, Hint sports bars.
And for the record, on the top floor of Blackfinn the men’s room is on the left of the bar whereas the women’s is on the right. I made the mistake of walking in and almost using the men’s room, and just when I thought no one noticed – I received a Facebook message the following morning that read:
Hey how are you doing today? I am pretty sure I saw you in the men's room at Blackfinn so I am sorry for not saying hi then but I was a little confused.
Sam
Now that’s what I call a flag on the play.
If you walk down College Street past the Epicentre … past Cosmos … past AlleyCat … keep going … keep going … you have arrived at your destination: Luna Lounge, Uptown’s newest nightlife lounge.
The space is unrecognizable from when ugly coyotes were dancing on the bar. For starters the place is clean now. And it now has VIP couches lining the dance floor and a solarium, glassed-in patio. The ambiance has been completely renovated to a more elegant caliber. I can’t speak for the caliber of the men, however. One inebriated non-gentleman was such a groping groupie to my friend, I had to tell him that she has a venereal disease of the skin and if you so much as touch her you’ll get a disease of the dick ... just so he would quit touching her. He still didn’t. But don’t get me wrong, there were a lot of cool people there when I went last Thursday (and a lot of people in general).
Note: picture is pretty accurate to guy-girl ratio, ladies ;)
Luna intends to keep the momentum going from their grand opening with their calendar of weekly events including …
They say that drinking impairs your motor skills... except when it comes to operating the keypad on a cell phone apparently because impaired fingers are the devil’s text messagers...
With the invention of texting it’s not just drunk dialing you have to worry about anymore... it’s the little typed — and often misspelled messages — you send via text (that can be saved and posted on-line for everyone to read). And cell phones may have a lot of bells and whistles these days, but they don't have a filter to help you think before you text.
So much for my idea of inventing a breathalyzer app for your phone so that restricts you from calling certain numbers if you’ve been drinking... which is pretty much every number other than a cab company. We’ve all been there... when we’re looking at our sent boxes and then we proceed to smack our forehead and then think to ourselves, “wtf?” Yeah, the receiving end of that phone was probably wondering the same thing when they read it.
Well now there’s a national website that posts said texts Text from Last Night — it lets us know that we’re not alone in being trigger happy on text, and provides us with a laugh.
… and I just had to share.
HAlarious.com:
“Apparently I called 911 every time Sean Kingston told me to”
“I want you”
“Stop dating girls with the same name as your mother or strop drinking so much ... I don’t wanna see that”
“Nothing says plantonic group sex like campfires and smores”
Local band Simplified even got mentioned in one:
"i wore my purity necklace wen we fucked. but its ok cuz simplified was blasting in the background"
"hahahaha. im glad listening to simplified justifies breaking ur promise to god"
And then there's the "morning after texts" ...
“We had to use the stains on Phil's shirt to try to piece together what happened last night”
“I went to Arby’s at 2:30 a.m. and banged on the window for them to make me a Beefy”
Some of my girls and I discovered Texts from Last Night while on a road trip to the beach. We entertained ourselves for hours reading them, so that night my friend sent her boyfriend one she found on there.
“This is a mass text. Where am I” Her boyfriend replied concerned, so she dropped him another one ...
“Hold on, I have to call you back, there’s a cheeseburger in my pocket.”
Meanwhile I’m in the corner have my own unscripted texts throughout the night ...
After 10 years of living away from England, a girl can get a little homesick. Since I’m in a financial flump (aren’t we all), I can’t hop the pond this summer. But if you’re like me and need a wee break, you can skip over to Scotland ... and you don’t even have to leave the state. All you have to do is head over to the Tilted Kilt on Carowinds Boulevard.
The Tilted Kilt makes you feel like you’ve just taken a nine hour flight and landed in the land of Haggis — but luckily without the jet lag. Food includes Danny Boy’s Shepherd Pie, sausage sandwiches, and a Fat Bastard meatloaf sandwich. And to put a new crunch on an appetizer favorite, you can order the Irish nachos ... on crisps (aka. potato chips). But as well as bringing Scottish cuisine to America, the Tilted Kilt has mixed a little east with a little west. And by that I mean American girls in skimpy Scottish kilts — what an edge on tradition ... well, a shorter edge at least.
Essentially, the Tilted Kilt is like a Scottish tilt on Hooters and Bikinis. While the orange shorts and bikini tops are traditions in themselves, the outfits look like naughty schoolgirl uniforms. And ladies, even the men wear kilts, which will make any girl ponder that age old question — do men wear anything under their kilts?
Because it’s the perfect accessory to wear to the heavenly new nightclub in Charlotte … Halo. Halo is the new “it” club in the N.C. Music Factory, and in Charlotte in general on a Saturday. Although I think they should call it horns because there’s not too much angelic stuff going on in there if you know what I’m saying... it is a nightclub afterall }:-)
The grand opening of Halo last Saturday was so packed the line protruded beyond the red carpet, past The Fillmore and pretty much to my desk at the Creative Loafing office. I was wondering who was watching the EpiCentre because basically everyone you’d see at Suite on a given night, was at Halo for their Marquee Saturdays – including some of the staff, as well as the staff at Sunset Club. And I think all the pretty girls came out of the closet wearing the best dresses in their closets because it felt like a Miss North Carolina pageant. And with clubs, it’s kinda like the Field of Dreams: “if you build it, they will come.” Well if the pretty girls come so will the guys who spend money – a very simple nightlife formula.
Halo’s other ingredients include a massive dance floor with a lighting system that makes every night feel like the 4th of July with the best DJs in town including DJ R Wonz and DJ Complete, and DJ 208 will be taking the wheels at an upcoming Marquee Saturday. Free and hassle-free parking, go-go dancers shaking their rumps on the roof, three bars, a patio and lounging areas. They have a Latin night on Thursday, but their hottest night, not to mention the hottest night in Charlotte, is their Marquee Saturdays. And Halo is the perfect place to go before or after a concert at the Uptown Amphitheatre or Fillmore.
Speaking of the Marquee Saturdays, the first 10 people to e-mail brittney.cason@creativeloafing.com will get a pass for free admission with a get out of line free pass.
This is a 10-person deep prize so your chances are rather goos here, but please do realize free shit goes quickly ... please don't reply at 3 a.m. so that my Crackberry rings and wakes me up asking "Did I win?" when I'd given them away 20 e-mails ago. And sending a message to me on facebook doesn't count.
By Sarah Coombes
As my best friend’s maid of honor, I have a position almost as big as the white dress — the party planner. And as a nightlife writer, I’ve been all around Charlotte. Therefore it is only fair that I share the most unique and budget friendly locations to have that bachelor/bachelorette blowout. And none of the places exceed $30 per person. So get ready for a list of the top 4 locations in Charlotte to say your pre-wedding I do’s... and by that I mean your “I DO want more alcohol” vows.
Pole Dance Charlotte: Let’s face it, inside every woman there’s a hidden urge to test out that stripper pole... in private of course. So, for your big fling, why not fling off your inhibitions too? Pole Dance Charlotte offers private classes for Bachelorettes. Included in the price is a bridal tiara for the bride to be, 90 minutes of pole dance and lap dance instruction, and a group photo that gets emailed to the hostess the next day — that’s right ladies, photographic evidence of your wild night out... just in case you forget a few details along the rest of the party path. You must pay a minimum of $150 for 6 people or less, but you can split the cost per person to come out to $25 each. The maximum amount of people allowed is 15. The parties start at 8 p.m. on Friday and 2 p.m. on Saturday with a last start time of 9:30 p.m. … which leaves plenty of time for an after party at one of the other locations mentioned in this article. For more information contact Kelly at Kelly@poledancecharlotte.com
Strike City: The next generation bowling alley, Strike City, is like a triple threat of the entertainment world, it offers a bowling alley, a bar and a restaurant... now that’s a way to put a spin on your single night out. Strike City doesn’t take reservations, but you can book through an event coordinator - and if you take that route, you’re on the fast lane to drink tickets and chocolate fountains. But if you just want to make a pit stop on your guys or girls night out, its $45 an hour, per lane and $4 per person for shoes on Fridays and Saturdays. You can fit up to 8 people on a lane, so if you split the cost it is roughly $10 a person. Now that’s a way to ball on a budget! Oh and as a final note, Thursday is ladies night, so if the gals can afford a pre-bachelorette shindig it’s $35 an hour and free shoes — now that’s a real strike!
Bombay Sapphire Gin to be exact … and used in original recipes made by Charlotte’s top bartenders. Last night was the Bombay Sapphire and GQ Magazine’s Most Inspired Bartender Contest at Loft 1523.
The contest consisted of lot of the same bartenders as the Bar Wars event at Alley Cat — but it was a lot classier of an event with a lot higher stakes. The winner of the event last night will be flown to Las Vegas to compete against bartenders from all over the country — and that winner will then be featured in GQ Magazine and be credited for creating Bombay Sapphire’s new drink to be mass-marketed in the U.S.
I felt like I was in Hell’s Kitchen for bartenders, slash a science fair. Anyone that thinks bartending is easy is apparently only a beer tub girl because bartending is a science … literally. Mixology is chemistry.
The bartenders were using fruits and ingredients I’d never even heard of before. There were edible flowers frozen in ice, lemon peels wrapped around ice tubes, homemade jams lacing the glasses and extraordinary garnishes. And there were a lot of recipes involving cucumbers; apparently cucumbers are the new it ingredient — like pink is the new black, cucumber is the the new pomegranate.
And the winner is … (drum roll please)
Honor the Red, White and Blue with Red, White and Brew … Red, White and Boom … Red, White, and Pabst Blue Ribbon. There are all kinds of ways to celebrate our independence and do a little indepen-dance in Charlotte, but below are the Brittney After Dark party picks, as in pick of party.
Britt’s pick …
Inaugural Queen City Hot Dog Eating Contest. There’s just something about shoving wieners in your mouth at a rapid rate that sounds fun … and to benefit the troops no less. Friday, July 3 at Alley Cat - $2 door donation that includes one free hotdog and there’s a $1000 cash prize to whoever can inhale the most wieners.
The Intern’s Party Picks ….
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