You'll read in an item below that Lesley kicked it at the Kanye West afterparty, but left before 'Ye showed up and performed. I honestly can't imagine how he had energy to go anywhere after the extravaganza he put on at Superpages.com Center.
Yep, some friends and I braved the chaos of the lawn at the venue-formerly-known-as-Smirnoff. As soon as we arrived last night (during Rihanna's ho-hum set), a couple of high school girls gave us dirty looks for sitting right in front of "their" spot. And then they started talking trash, one telling the other that we might get kicked if we moved any closer. Wow. So much for the laid-back lawn experience.
But an hour later, when the lights went down and the intro for Kanye's one-man space odyssey began, we all forgot about turf wars and rose to our feet. And as the rapper blazed through hit after hit for 90 minutes, our butts never touched the grass once.
It's easy to hate on Mr. West for his public displays of overweening self-importance. But from beginning to end of the set last night, he more than justified his egomania.
So the biggest trend in nightclubs now appears to be the usage of stripper poles, strategically placed next to the dance floor. Saw them at Myst last night. And Bliss has at least one. I think Suite may have started the trend a few years ago, although their poles are more like columns and blend in with the surroundings. Bliss' and Myst's are the skinny, tall, yes-I'm-a-stripper-pole real deal. No doubt this is an import from Vegas.
I'm totally showing my age on this, but remember when all the clubs had cages?
A pet peeve on the stripper-pole thing: Girls who get up there have to be able to dance. Not just jiggle the booty. Toss a hip! Throw some sass in there!
Kanye's official after party last night was at Myst, the new place next to Purgatory. The spot used to be Babylon, and before that, Wake Energy Lounge. (Where are my old-school peeps who remember that?) This is the nicest it's ever looked, though.
Myst is small and decked out in all white -- not exactly original decor, Dallas nightclub-wise, but still clean. They've got filmy curtains behind the tables, white booths, and an all-white upstairs VIP area, which is glassed-in so you can watch the go-go dancers writhe on the dance floor.
Absolut sponsored the after party, so there was an open bar all night. Absolut girls in teensy skirts shook their booties on the stripper poles, and other Absolut girls handed out plastic copies of Kanye's signature glasses. DJ Turbulence, Kanye's DJ who's based in L.A., played a bunch of party hits -- Montel Jordan, Biggie, Missy, Lil' Jon. (He'll also be at Obar tonight.)
I didn't feel like dancing, so we just sat and people-watched. My friend and I debated whether tight, curve-hugging dresses were tacky. I said no: If you've got the body and the posture -- posture is key! -- rock it all you want.
We waited until around 1:15 a.m. for Kanye to show up, but he didn't, so we decided to go home. But not before taking a pic of us in the glasses, like everyone else in the club was doing.
UPDATE: Just heard from Myst's owner. Kanye showed up 15 minutes after we left! CRAP. He apparently gave an awesome performance for 45 minutes. And Lupe Fiasco and N.E.R.D. performed too. I can't believe I missed it. If you were there, drop me a line and let me know what it was like.
Just got a long, thoughtful comment from a reader named Rebeka about my recent post on Bliss, the new club in the West End. She wonders: Why didn't you talk to the owners of the club and find out what they were trying to do, before you write something at all?
Thought I'd explain how the process usually works for me.
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