After A Friday Night Tour, I Still Feel The Glo

[paradeatw]

just wanted to share our friday night journey with all of ya...

After A Friday Night Tour, I Still Feel The Glo

By Shane Fontane

Friday February 4th, 2005

Armed with the Francois K “Deep Space NYC†CD, a travel pack of fun and a crew of nightlife characters, our mission into Manhattan was running a bit late but there was no fear since our night would not end until after-hours kicked our “left-over†asses back into the streets at sunrise.

Our tour for the night would bring us across a variety of atmospheres, genres of music and circles of nightlife socialites. The line-up for the night went like this:

1 – Get to the Rothko for some lower Eastside beat madness for Planet Mu’s Jega and friends

2 – Stumble on over to Glo for Heatherette’s after party with Paris and Nicky Hilton

3 – Encore performance at the Sullivan Room for after-hours with Hector Romero

LOL. Needless to say, an interesting night it was. Right down to the Paris Hilton look-a-like (or stalker) in the pink fur coat stumbling on line outside of Glo. Funny thing is, we couldn’t figure out why they just wouldn’t let her in? Hmmm…

Jega and Friends Gather at Rothko

So for all who don’t know of this hidden gem that breeds underground music throughout Manhattan’s artsy lower eastside, let me be the first to tell you that the Rothko was an amazing change of pace for all of us. The first thing we noticed about the Village Voice’s “Best Club That Doesn’t Care About Celebrities or Rich Assholes†was that the focus was on one thing – the music. Simply put, Rothko is everything that is not trendy.

A friendly staff poured our drinks ‘till our hearts were content and the music was so under produced and nasty that it instantly brought me back to the root of all music – creativity.

Sometimes we forget creativity and allow the over-polished sounds and repetitive marketing formulas of dance music to blur what we consider great music. This alone made our crew feel right at home, as a matter of fact – that’s exactly what we said. It was like standing in our living room with a DJ dropping nasty underground hip-hop bedroom beats.

Although we were enjoying every minute of the bearded lady and Jega’s live performance, 12:30am rolled in as quick as this venue filled to capacity and it was now time to break out. I packed up my camera and we pushed our way through the audience to get outside. We then headed over to 16th Street’s “bottles and models†nightclub, Glo, where rich kids from New Jersey and Manhattan happily burned their funds together on hard drinks and good times.

White Chics Go Wild at Glo

When we arrived for the Heatherette after-party, which was celebrating their new winter/fall collection unveiled earlier that night, the doors were closed to the general public and all guest lists were pretty much worth the gum on the ground. Luckily we travel within a recommended circle of friends and we were kindly let through the ropes.

This was my first time in Glo and the vibe was quite impressive. You could instantly feel the excitement once you walked into party. The crowd was beautiful, chatty, friendly and full of white chics gone wild. The drinks were tasty and the music was so loud and clear that we kept commenting on how amazing it sounded. All of this was served within one large 11,000 square foot room dressed up in a fashionable modern white décor with large video projections of psychedelic images blazing the walls.

Although I am not one for hip-hop parties, I would highly recommend Friday nights at Glo if you are into commercial hip-hop beats with a taste of pop classics and have plenty of cash to burn. Glo is a pulsating light of warmth that beckons fashion, trust funds and good times. Just make sure you have reserved bottle service or arrive with Gisele and Amber or chances are you will be left out in the cold while everyone is hot on the inside.

When the lights came on and the music simmered down, I was swaying amongst a crew of happy friends who staggered with a grin. Funny thing was, we had such a great time that we were already slurring about coming back another night.

Hector Romero Closes Out Sullivan Room

Cloaked behind an old metal door and some building scaffolding one would barely recognize that there was a party going on, but just behind that door is a stairway to the underground where house music heads live for the music. The one thing I have always enjoyed about the Sullivan Room is it’s “at home†vibe. It’s not the type of house club where everyone is concerned about their hair, make-up and attire. It’s a home for like-minded music connoisseurs to gather to the sounds of their favorite DJs without the hefty cover charge and door politics of some of the larger mega clubs.

Don’t let this small venue fool you for one second though. For a tiny room many talented artists have played here including Richie Hawtin, Chris & Kai, and Marco Corolla. Tonight would be no exception with the one and only Saw Recording’s Hector Romero.

Although the bar was closed there were still house music purists hanging onto one last groove. Hector closed with a few classics and then played one last encore before bidding the dance floor farewell. After a short applause the party faded into the night leaving behind someone asleep on the couch, random whispering of the after after hours and a mix of smiles and worn out soles from the non-stop house music shuffling. We then emerged from the depths of the humid basement to surface onto the street to drag our tired asses back through the Holland tunnel into the sunrise.