Thursday, June 18, 2009

Whisky's celeb-filled birthday bash


Whisky River was decked in balloons and streamers Wednesday night and bartenders passed out birthday cake to mark the bar's one-year anniversary at an exclusive party filled with local celebrities.


Whisky owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. was there to celebrate the occasion, along with fellow NASCAR drivers Denny Hamlin, Dave Stremme and Reed Sorenson.

A number of Carolina Panthers also partied hidden from the crowd in the VIP section, including Julius Peppers, Dante Rosario and Jon Beason.

And city leaders also turned out: Mayor Pat McCrory gave a toast proclaiming Whisky River as "the best bar in Charlotte and the best in the Southeast." (Ha.) City councilmen John Lassiter and Andy Dulin (who was heavily promoting his Twitter -- or as he calls it, Tweeter -- page) were also in attendance.

But it was the party's musical guest that had everyone talking: country singer and "Dancing with the Stars" pro Julianne Hough, who performed a 45-minute set with full band, dedicating one song to boyfriend (and fellow country singer) Chuck Wicks and playing a new song for the first time. She also played a couple of covers: Sheryl Crow's "Steve McQueen" and Pat Benatar's "Hit Me with Your Best Shot."

Her upbeat, feel-good performance showed why she was recently named Best New Artist at the Academy of Country Music Awards in April.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Whiskey River is fun if you're an 18 year old with a fake ID who enjoys being packed into a room like a sardine and waiting 30 minutes to get an overpriced beer. Yeah... it's a blasty blast! (sarcasm)

Anonymous said...

Thank you for pointing out that your being sarcastic or we never would have picked up on that.

El Shizz said...

"She also played a couple of covers"

talk about playing to your audience

doobiewah said...

Yeah,just the kind of place I want to be in....a packed to the rafters club with a bunch of drunken,idiotic twentsomethings and paying sky-high prices for a drink.Real great time,for sure!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like it was a real A-list event...or not!

Anonymous said...

God she is hot

Anonymous said...

what the hell is Pep doing in town? Shouldnt he have been at Summer work outs then? What a team player

Anonymous said...

sounds like most of you bitc#$& are shut ins anyway.

Anonymous said...

Whisky river sucks.
They have girls on the street dressed as hookers passing out coupons to get in free.
When you get to the door it ain't free. It's $2 off.

Anonymous said...

I am really going to miss McCrory's hyperboles net year.

Anonymous said...

Anon 3:22 Thank you for your sarcasm. I would have never figured that out!

Mary said...

Since when is it OK for a Mayor to endorse/promote a bar? I don't care, just think it's odd.

doobiewah said...

To 4:53 PM....no,we are not bit##es who are shut-ins,there ARE those of us who believe in a higher class club along with a better class of people!

Anonymous said...

Anon 4:36 pm June 18...I was wondering that exact same thing-nevermind whisky river, why the hell is/was peppers in town and not at summer school practices??

he is in the same city while training is going on but won't work out with the team..sounds like a great start to 2009 for him.

Anonymous said...

Pep wasnt at summer school because he has not signed the franchise tender and is therefore not a Carolina Panther at this time. He is a franchised free agent.

Anonymous said...

Whisky River is a fun place you just have to know what to expect. It's a rowdy country themed bar. I always have a blast but I go in knowing what to expect. As long as you take some of the people there with a grain of salt you can have a great time. I'm sure the mayor was there since Whisky does a lot of work with charities around town.