Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The party of the year

If you didn't go to the Bartender's Ball on Sunday, you truly missed out on the party of the year.

As a first-timer, I had no idea what to expect.

Nearly 2,000 people showed up, all in the 25-35 age range and dressed to kill. Six DJs rotated between two booths and had the dance floor rocking. In the VIP area, girls gyrated on a raised platform behind the DJ booth. The Men's Club catered the party and the line snaked through the ballroom and out in the hall (that was probably my only complaint for the night. If you wanted food, you had to be in line at 7 if you didn't want to wait 30-40 minutes). And while it was open bar with premium liquor, no one got out of control. It was all happy drunks.

About 30 bars from around Charlotte took over the ballroom at the Blake Hotel and turned it into TV Land. I got to judge the bars' booths before the party started and some places got really into the decor.

My favorites:

  • Brick & Barrel's "Price is Right" theme, complete with Drinko (a play off the famed Plinko game) and a Drew Carey lookalike:


  • Tempo's "Soul Train" booth, strictly because of the bartender's outfits -- I want to know where she found high-waisted, bright blue spandex pants (and she worked them, too):


  • And Cans' "Gilligan's Island," whose bar was a replica boat in the tropics with Gilligan, Ginger and Mary Ann:


A winner hasn't been announced yet, but my money's on Cans. I gave them the highest score for the night.

(Update: Cans ended up taking first place. In second: Brick & Barrel's "Price is Right," and in third, McKoy's and Vinnie's joint entry of "The Dating Game.")

Bartender's Ball lived up to all the hype, and I definitely plan to be back next year.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

[quote]And while it was open bar with premium liquor, no one got out of control. It was all happy drunks.
[/quote]

Ah, just the kind of thing I like to read in a NEWSPAPER!

Anonymous said...

I just got back from Charleston and love their bars down there. The bars have People of course who are 'free and easy 'because they are on vacation but the People are more laid back; I wanted to visit the VENDUE rooftop bar because I have stayed there and did see a ghost one night. But the top bars are great. Too bad one of the tall condos couldnt open up a real high end bar looking at the city lights at night. This would be a great thing to have candlelight up on top of a rooftop, any takers?
Earthworm Jim

Anonymous said...

wanglais..... Last time I checked you were reading a blog