LRG + Courvesoir & Complex Mag

I went to LRG & Courvesoir party with Ko at Reed Space. We tried going early but it was already packed by the time we got there. Thanks to Parler, we got to skip the line via Sheri (sp?) of Complex mag. It was an instant heatwave when you walked in. If you know Reed Space, you know it’s a small and everyone was sweating from the lack of ac. Ick. But everyone stuck it out and mingled. Free alcohol helped too. Just Blaze held it down on the deck most of the night. A lot of folks from various clothing brands, magazine, party promoters, etc were there and it turned out to be more of a networking event than anything else. At the end of the night, we got to take home some LRG+Courvesoir glasses. Not bad at all.

Wednesday Night parties

Wednesday night has got to be the hottest day of the week. From weekly parties to random one-offs, there’s no shortage of places to be at!

I finally checked out The Upstairs hosted by the lovely Fiona Bloom. The venue was sophisticated and it was the perfect setting for an after-work crowd.  I invited my high school friend, Gina, to come along. We haven’t seen each other basically since we graduated in 1999. My god, I’m old. It was good to catch up and reminiesce the old times when we were silly and irresponsible. Now we’re just silly. We met a few new folks including a brand ambassador of Sagatiba, re-connected with Lauren of NextAid,  Maya Azucena and hung out a bit with the regular party people… DJ Parler, Derreck and Human. If you haven’t checked out the spot, you’re missing out! For regular party updates, peep more on http://www.thebloomeffect.com/blog/.

We left around 9:30pm and I headed over to SOBs for the Lupe Fiasco show. Man, he totally killed it. Matthew Santos opened the show and got back on later for their collabo song. Lupe rocked with a live band and the crowd went nuts over him. They chanted his name and gave him the rockstar treatment. The show was sold out a month and a half before the event so thank you Alex D. of SOBs for hooking it up! P.Diddy was also in the house promoting his new artist, Janelle Monae. I’m not sure if she got on stage last night but you can check her out tonight at her free concert at Highline Ballroom.  RSVP to badboyrsvp@wmg.com. Concert starts at 8pm.

After the show, I hopped over to Blue Owl where everyone was there to check out the weekly party, The Hump, and/or celebrate DJ Tahleim’s bday. Of course Big Jeff was there… this guy knows EVERYBODY in New York. It was packed when I arrived and I ended up hanging out only for a little bit for I was beat from running around all day and drinking without having had dinner or lunch. I called it quits after that. It was good times.

Tonight, will be heading over to the LRG party and so it continues.

The Upstairs

The weather has been quite icky lately but the idea that it is suppose to be getting hotter soon gets people out the doors every night. After work parties are the best things about summer as it’s usually free and most people make it since it’s early enough so if you are tired, you still can make it home at a decent time.

A new after-work spot that started a couple of weeks ago is The Upstairs with DJ Dhundee and DJ Moni at Renaissance Hotel in Times Square, every Wednesday from 6pm-10pm. With Fiona Bloom as the party hostess, there’s no shortage of smiles and good energy going around. I have yet to check it but have heard great reviews and Pharoahe Monch even showed up for the first party. Will definitely be making it this Wednesday. For reviews of the last party, peep the excerpt below:

Going to The Upstairs and then to Atlanta

May 7th, 2008

It’s a gorgeous Springtime day indeed!

Except- the allergies are kicking in and the pollen is so high-  as I sit here sniffling and talking through my noise and my head feels light- oh boy  but that doesn’t stop a girl like me from going out.  Hell no!

I’m off to ‘The Upstairs’ at The Renaissance Hotel Times Square.  The classy hotel lounge/bar and restaurant – very swanky and it’s great to entertain your clients or take a meeting or impress someone.

Sagatiba Brazilian White Spirit signature cocktails all night- and light fare from Chop Suey.

Musical treats provided by MONI and DHUNDEE- my favorite pairing.  Come out and you’ll see why.

Last week we kicked it off- April 30th and it was jumping from beginning till end.

Let’s keep it up….It’s a residency- 10 weeks– if it does well and they decide to extend it– we’ll all be happy!!”  — Fiona Bloom

For more, link to Miss Fiona’s blog @ http://www.thebloomeffect.com/blog/

Erykah Badu and The Roots

Friday, May 9th

Just, Ko and I got to Radio City Hall around 8:30pm. Unfortunately we missed most of The Roots from being there late but apparently they didn’t do any of their new stuff off the Rising Down album. I was quite bummed for I had been listening to the album all day hoping to see them do it live.

It was my first time watching Erykah perform eventhough she has been one of my favorite artists of all times. I was extremely excited when she did most of her new titles along with quite a few old classics. She brought on a number of props including two medicine balls for one of her songs and it was cute to see her get creative in expressing herself. At one point during the show, she jumped into the audience and had some of the members sing a part of “On and On”… it defined why she is the artist and we’re not. Towards the end, a gentleman from Connecticut proposed to his girlfriend on stage. She happily accepted of course but I thought it was a bit cheesy. It depends on how you look at it I suppose. The only drawback was the venue for the concert. Most hip-hop shows I have been to are held in a smaller venue so the experience was a bit different at Radio City. The place holds about 7,000 people so you can imagine how big the space is. I thought the stage was a bit detached from the audience but perhaps it was just me.

After the show, we hit up Sutra Lounge for the after-party. It was packed but not to the point where you simply cannot enjoy yourself. Upstairs was ?uestlove and downstairs had DJ Spinna. Both of them played some really great music and a few members of the Roots were there along with Mos Def chilling with his gf in the crowd. Only in New York… gotta love it.

The Roots Listening Party

Held at Sutra on a Monday night, the venue offered an intimate setting among fans and music industry folks alike. I was about to head home for the night around 1am when my friend texted me that Mos Def was right outside so I stayed later than anticipated. Lucky that I did or I would have missed the highlight when ?uestlove got on deck. There was a bit of technical difficulty for about 10mins but a guy by the name, Jay, who I would meet again a week later at the Brand Nubian show at Knitting Factory, started spittin’ some ol joints and everyone just flowed with it, creating the good connective vibe amongst everyone. Finally the music kicked off and cheers erupted. Mos Def and Black Thought got on the mic and basically rocked it. It is always exciting to see The Roots perform and their latest album, Rising Down, albeit a bit darker than previous ones is still a great cop. I’ve been listening to it over and over these past few days. The party went on well past 2am but I can’t party like I used to on a weekday so it was quits for me after they got on.

 

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