When I was too young to remember, my older sister would hijack my mom's Caddy and drive it over the mountain to see the Dave Matthews Band play in some hole in the wall bar in Virginia. Too bad you can't see Dave in an intimate setting like that now, but the mega-concert is still worthwhile. I jammed out to DMB at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater on Tuesday, just like I did last year in Central Park, listening to his elongated instrumentals that tease you for 10 minutes before starting the song.
And did you know that there's a whole other world at a stage right off the Amphitheater, which they refer to as the VIP section? It comes equipped with fancy port-a-potties (if there is such a thing), tables with a wait staff, a full liquor bar and chair massages. But you can't hear the concert, so what's the point?
Although the Maxim Bud Light Exposure party was on a Thursday, it began Wednesday for this Maxim hall-of-famer. Let me explain. As a former full-time editorial staffer in New York, I was involved in the 34th greatest moment in Maxim history, according to a list in Maxim's 100th anniversary issue. I shocked the entire staff by taking first place in a hush puppy eating contest.
A Maxim friend came into town a day early and I took him to the Forum, where we ran into American Idol's Fantasia Burrito ... Burino, whatever her name is. And on Thursday night, I rolled into NoDa's CenterStage 10 girls deep for the Maxim party. Turns out, it wasn't a real Maxim party (we were punk'd); it was merely a Bud Light party. Bud pays to use the Maxim name in exchange for a certain number of ad pages in the magazine. A real Maxim party usually consists of the likes of Lindsay Lohan chain smoking while underage drinking Patrone and Method Man playing Tiki Barber in PlayStation.
But it was definitely a Bud Light Exposure party -- debauchery at its finest. The drink menu consisted of Bud Light in a blue bottle or Bud Light in a silver bottle. Meanwhile, half-naked girls danced in cages and pillow-fought on beds. The party had a pretend photo shoot, so girls could play dress up and model a la Maxim. Everyone certainly looked like a model. I've got two words for the crowd at the party: hot and tees. Later that night, I ended up at Cans, where I witnessed a catfight. One girl went Mike Tyson on another, actually biting a chunk of the girl's ear off. Simmer down, ladies. No man is worth that much drama.
I kicked off my weekend with Hi-fi Fridays at the Forum to get my weekly fix of the musical styling of Judson. Then I headed over to Dixie's to board the Ragin' Uptown for a three-hour cruise, tickets compliments of Rich Saner of RDS. The Ragin' Uptown was definitely raging and there was plenty of boozing to accompany the cruising. It was fun as all RDS Event functions are. A little too fun, if you know what I mean. I wore a life vest the entire night in order to encourage everyone to wear protection. We were like the pirates of Lake Norman. The party seemed to stay at the lake for the remainder of the weekend and I am now experiencing the first sunburn of my dark-completed life -- ouch.
Saturday night I eventually made it back to Dixie's for OysterFest featuring Cowboy Mouth and Simplified. As usual, Cowboy Mouth proved to be one of the better bands to see local and live.
I'll be in Houston for the Fourth, but you can be sure I'll be doing a little indepen-dance to celebrate our nation's b-day.
Psssstttt ... If you have any dirt or inside scoop on nightlife, shoot me an e-mail at brittney.cason@creativeloafing.com.