Friday, August 17, 2007

Thursday Recap: Buzz Clothing Party, Stockton House, The Pink Elephant

Hmmm....downtown? Ugh. But there are those magic words: Hosted Bar. (and to the girl who had to ask, that means FREE DRINKS)


So I got a press release and I wasn't even sure where it came from, but that didn't much matter when the "hosted bar" words were dangled in front of me. I e-mailed the mystery sender and got myself a plus three to the party. I found takers in Heather and Amanda (the house party girls) and we made arrangements for meeting up and heading out. I met them at Amanda's, Heather picked us up, and we were on our way. Unfortunately, we didn't know there was a Padres game, so parking at 10th and Market wasn't as easy as it might have otherwise been, but we finally found a spot and walked to the party.

We were greeted at the entrance by one of the Go Go Academy girls, dressed in platform white boots and some mini hotpants and were instructed to sign a release because the event would be videotaped. We entered and despite being downtown, which I'm generally averse to, the space was an old warehouse which reminded me of the pre-Gaslamp days of downtown. Back in high school, my friend's boyfriend lived in this strange warehouse space a couple blocks from this party, and he actually parked his car in his living room, so it was kinda cool to see not all of downtown's old cool spaces have succumbed to development.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

As you walked into the space, there was a bar on the immediate left that was pretty much serving any variation of vodka drinks (have I died and gone to heaven?) then there was another one on the right that had a wider variety of drinks and mixers.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

There was a good crowd, though not nearly as many as I would've expected for an event advertising an entire night of free booze. We spent about an hour of hanging out, drinking and socializing, and listening to the DJ spin for a while.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Finally we thought the event was starting. And I guess it was, though the Go Go Academy essentially came out for a teaser and stretched onstage for about 15 minutes.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Then they left the stage and we were kinda left scratching our heads, but whatever, right?

Eventually Schwayze came out and did his rap thing. He was good, but kinda drowned out. It wasn't particularly loud in the warehouse, but his mic couldn't be turned up much because there was some gnarly feedback if it went any louder. I felt kinda bad because on the hip hop tip, he was actually good and had good flow, but it was just kinda lost among the crowd.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I stepped outside for a moment and chatted with the Go Go girl and bouncer who were telling some story about a chick who came to the party already intoxicated and who got in a fight with her boyfriend and left the party. The bouncer hailed a pedicab, then she danced in the street for 5 minutes and was driven away in her bicycle chariot. I was kinda sad I missed probably the most noteworthy part of the night.

But still, there was stuff going on inside. Schwayze finished up his set with 'Polaroid', getting the Go Go Academy to join him onstage, each carrying a Polaroid camera and taking pictures of the crowd that they tossed out while they danced.

After Schwayze left the stage, I managed to grab his setlist.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Schwayze Setlist, Buzz clothing warehouse, 8/16/07

We stayed a bit longer, watching the girls dance and imbibing on the free liquor that was being poured generously.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

The San Diego-ish guys were there, and Tim Pyles showed up after the Padres game ended. I met Malicious (finally) and hung out with other random peeps. A huge thanks to Buzz Clothing, Estar Live, The Go Go Academy, and Ignite Interactive Marketing who put on the fun event. Apparently they plan on having more events at the Buzz Clothing Warehouse, and I highly recommend checking them out. The space is probably one of the coolest I've seen in this city.

Heather's friend Sarah came and picked us up and we left the party around 11:30 on to the next stop. We drove all over North Park and South Park trying to find the Stockton House, and after a stop at CVS, we finally found our way.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Unfortunately, the bands were finished so we drank the beers we procured at CVS and decided to head to 30th and University piled into the back of Sarah's truck.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Some of us hung at the Pink Elephant, a couple of the group wandered to Shooterz and Scolari's, but eventually the night had to end and I was safely driven home. I tried writing this post last night, but drunken blogging is always a mistake, so here I am now writing this and reflecting on a cool night in SD. Seriously, I couldn't have had a better time. Now I'm off to catch the bus to get my car that is sitting in Banker's Hill. And hey! It's the weekend! More partying to be had :) Or if you prefer the mellow, go see Superbad. Whatever you choose, be safe and have fun.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

1 comment:

Reelmandy said...

DAMN that was a fun night. I think I had about 11 free cocktails at the warehouse which made for such a great night ahead. This morning I kept wondering, how many places did we GO last night!??
Let's do it again soon!