I think I just recovered from Artini. That’s right, the party thrown by a bunch of artists knocked me out for over 48 hours. And… it wasn’t just the booze.
The hosts completely decked out the IX building with custom paint jobs, 2 story drapes, strategic lighting, white lounge furniture, a ginormous dance floor, bikini adorned cocktail waitresses, fire breathing dancers and much more. I didn’t feel like I was in Charlottesville and it was awesome. I’ve been trying to find pictures on Flickr, but nothing is up yet (except this one from Outskirts). I’m sure that the photographers and skilled writers will do a better job solidifying the memory.
Despite it’s awesomeness, Artini did have a few problems.
They ran out of the majority of drinks by 11:30
I heard from several independent sources (because we are a serious news source) that both the VIP and normal section had problems with drinks. Maybe the bartenders finished everything before the attendees could, or maybe it was a well executed sobriety tool. Either way, something went awry. Consider our approach to the bar circa-Midnight…
Us: [looking at a very drunk bartender creating a wonderfully random concoction] What do you have left?
Her: This.
US: What is that?
Her: Um…[looking at us very confused]
US: Ok, we’ll take it.
The IX Building Won’t Be the Venue Next year
*Tear* Rumor on the street is that the current owner will be renovating the space. Is it the IX project? Who knows, but our hostess did make an announcement that made me think the IX wouldn’t be available next year.
The DJ Had Rave Tendencies
Don’t they say de musica non est disputandum? They don’t. I was disappointed in the DJ due to his poor transitions and relatively bad music choice. Of course, no one noticed because the Martinis were so good, but next year let’s have a more consistent group of good songs and someone who knows how to smoothly move from song to song.
Overall Artini Was an A+
I’m just a bitcher and everything about Artini was great. Thank you very much to Second Street for throwing what I believe will be Charlottesville’s Best Party of 2007. Cheers! Share your stories!
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Tagged as: Activities, Artini, Charlottesville, Cocktails, Gripes, Non-Profit, Parties, Rants, Raves, Reviews, Rumors, Traditions
Favorite: the fired up hula hoop dancer.
They killed over 250 bottles of absolut!
The hula hoops were awesome.
Great review! Sorry to hear about the alcohol situation. After reading about it on Outskirts’ blog, I asked a bartender friend why the organizers didn’t book it to one of the bars invovled to get more liquor and he was pretty sure ABC law prohibits restocking in such cases. Kind of lame, but it’s no surprise considering some of ABC’s other silly practices.
**Shameless plug for a DJ**
There’s a DJ in town that plays in some random places (Atomic fairly often, Maya a few times) that I really like: DJ Deep See. You can see setlists and download his shows from his blog. Aside from DJing, he does a lot of mash ups. His tastes are pretty diverse and he uses a lot of the music I like in his shows.
Correct. Liquor can only be purchased form an ABC store and must be preordered. Once again, the ABC proves itself nothing more than a state revenue generating operation run by cronies that ensure they stay employed.
Anyone that has had to deal with the ABC not only hates them, but has little respect for the uber-anal, slow moving, staff that makes one want to pull their hair out.
By the way, that bartender said that ABC prohibited restocking, but that didn’t mean it isn’t done sometimes. Similarly, he said some bars will send someone to the ABC store (if it’s open) to buy a bottle off the shelf if they are really in a pinch. Apparently, the bars have to order their liquor so ABC can keep record of it and they aren’t supposed to just walk into the story and buy anything.
Hoops were done by Spiral. She is fantastic.
I did hear about the fading alcohol, but every time I went up to the bar, I was served a nice alcoholic drink…even after 1 AM. Maybe I was just lucky.
I heard that some of the “bartenders” didn’t have any experience (other than eye-candy), so that peeved some with regard to service.
Derek, same about getting drinks late. Or maybe I just drank my friends’ drinks
Thanks for sharing about the bartenders. Umm, is that legal?
[…] for the other comments, Artini was a sweet party (so there are no qualms for talking about it) but we were also pissed about a few things. To be fair, it was Charlottesville’s best party of the year. Thanks for putting us in […]