Yesterday, Jose Duran weighed in on the Eatskeet . com / Hipsterrunoff . com "Party Worth Blogging About" at the Gansevoort plunge pool, which we both attended. He was mostly on the money, but I should add that the party attendance had improved by the time I arrived around 2:30. In fact, it got downright crowded as the afternoon wore on, although the music never improved (that busted speaker issue never got resolved) and the drinks, sadly, never got magically cheaper. By late afternoon, some live humans did variously stand behind the decks -- the only one I recognized was Hollywood Holt -- but that's barely the point of a Hipsterrunoff-sponsored meta-party, right?
That green blur is the lone dancer at Nocturnal last night.
Around five, the party switched over to a private Ultra Records thing, but with that busted speaker still, the only thing that noticeably really changed was the tan and collagen level of the people trickling in. (It's a little sad that I wasn't the only one who recognized a cast member of Real Housewives of New York City there -- it was Ramona, if you're wondering). Deadmau5 was supposed to play, and I spotted a guy in Deadmau5's signature mask thing, but who knows if it was actually him or just an avatar (he seemed really young by his build).
Later that night, headed to the soft opening of Chicago, which was hosting Spider Pussy's annual WMC thing -- the big names on the bill were Franki Chan and Toxic Avenger. Only the upstairs was open, and the space is really raw, but has potential -- the upper level has a cool indoor/outdoor vibe. I'm biased because I adore the people who run this place, but they are dedicated to good times -- the vibe was friendly, and open bar was extended until midnight. They also, as promised, provided free hot dogs, which plenty of people amusingly scarfed down. The music was your typical electro-banger stuff, but the sound system was well equipped to handle that style's tweaked-out filters.
(Note: Chicago has open bar all week during conference, and after that, well drinks are only $5! Holla!)
I wanted to catch the Berlin-based techno DJ Radio Slave's set at the Pornograph party at Nocturnal, and I was told he'd go on at 2 a.m. That seemed a little bit early for a conference headliner at that late-night spot, but I headed over anyways around 2:30. Radio Slave may have well been playing, but does it count if there was nobody there? Seriously, there were a scant 50 people in the club, and exactly one to three brave souls twirling on the dance floor.
I don't get it -- maybe Wednesday is too early a day in the week to try to get a crowd to Nocturnal, which is really a last-stop-on-the-line sort of club. Maybe it packed out later? Either way, I didn't stick around to try to find out. A shame for Radio Slave, who's a big name internationally, but c'est la vie.
