Monday, October 29, 2007

Ghosts and gouls uptown on Friday

A flasher, a grand opening party, a birthday party and eating breakfast at a strip club.
And that was only Friday night.

I kicked off Halloween weekend at the 23rd annual Halloween Thriller Costume Ball at Woods on South, formerly Southend Brewery. That’s where I met the flasher, along with Vinny Testaverde, a sepia photo, a freaky priest, the pied piper and so many others.

Mostly everyone wore costumes, except my friend Road Dawg and a handful of others. Costumed partiers crowded on the dancefloor in the bar area to groove to dusty rap hits such as “Bust A Move.” The dated music was the event’s only drawback.

The layout worked well with the dancefloor on one side and three bars to buy drinks on the other side of the restaurant.

After leaving Woods, Road Dawg and I hung out at Madison’s to help Larken Egleston celebrate his 21st birthday. Our next stop was Hom’s club level, Play. DJ Lee Burridge headlined Friday’s grand opening party which drew Andy and Lesa Kastanas, Noah Lazes and John Love among other local tastemakers.

Inside Play, huge pieces of original artwork adorn burnt orange walls. The slide is gone and so is the pole. The DJ booth has been rebuilt. There’s a small lounge area up the stairwell near the dancefloor, and the front room has a fireplace, illuminated by candles, and a piano.

Fans of Tonic will love Play’s patio. There aren’t any firepits, but the oversized ottomans and couches make for great lounging. The club’s coolest feature is the wall behind the main bar. It’s made of light panels that illuminate to the beat of the music. It looks like a giant equalizer.

Our last uptown stop was to meet Larken and his entourage at Uptown Cabaret. There was a costume contest that lasted a little too long, but it was worth watching the Burger King guy. He was toasted and nearly knocked over the pirate ship onstage. Then he tried to climb one of the stripper poles and couldn’t pull himself up. He hung there and slowly slid down the pole.

After the contest, they opened the buffet line. This might be my new late-night breakfast spot. The $6 buffet had eggs, grits, bacon, hashbrowns chips, pancakes and biscuits and gravy. It’s not as good as the Men’s Club late-night buffet, which is all-you-can-eat and has an omelet station, but it’s closer.

If you didn't party this weekend for Halloween, Wednesday is your last chance. See the list, which will be updated, of Halloween parties on www.charlote.com/nightlife.

What was the best Halloween party this weekend? Post your replies below.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Uptown Cabaret Halloween party was fabulous, and as for the breakfast is it not just closer than the "STUFFY, OVERRATED" Men's Club its simply better. The whole atmosphere of the World Famous Uptown Cabaret is just that, WORLD FAMOUS!! So for anyone who hasn't visited the Uptown go, great girls, excellent staff and tons of fun, a night at Uptown . . . PRICELESS!!!!