Club Night Spotlight: Hendrick's Party at Ambassador
Hendrick's Gin Promo Party at Ambassador
Last seen: November 21, 2008
Recurring Club Night: To Be Determined
Review by Crystal Akins
Photos by Hardy Wilson
Preface: normally I despise costume parties and gin, but...
Classy (classic, even), swanky and sexy are all adjectives that come to mind when I cycle through the montage of thoughts regarding Hendrick's Gin party last Friday at the Ambassador. The invite-only party, inspired by a Victorian/Burlesque hybrid theme, required its guests to arrive fully costumed, enabling us all to feel like we stepped into a time capsule of 1920s debauchery.
"Any Hendrick's event has unusual characters and dress," said Hendrick's rep. Jim Ryan. "We focus on Edwardian and Victorian style of dress for our events just because the spirit is so unusual, and we like to embrace that sort of period where people took more time to appreciate looking great."
The montage: women on stilts, contortionists, pearls, cabaret strip performances, pasties, and punch bowls. Men with mustaches wooed decadently-dressed women while free gin-infused drinks circulated the room. Requiring their guests to dress up was key to having the party's aesthetic stay in character throughout the night, and it helped transport us to another dimension.
The performances, which came in 30 minute intervals (more or less), usually consisted of busty women doing some kind of sexy swagger across the stage while they stripped down to pasties and a thong. As you can imagine, the performances conjured up whistles and cheers from a drunken crowd...but surprisingly, there was nothing vulgar about it. Upon the performances' completion, the post-collegiate and mature crowd carried on their conversations, toasted one another and laughed.
My only complaint: being rendered immobile because of the number of guests standing and not having ample seating. The multi-level venue offered several "reserved" booths for Hendrick's and Nerve.com guests while the rest of us stood around or squeezed together upstairs. Trying to sift through a sea of feathers and mustaches makes you want to spill your drink just so people will move (the drinks were free anyway).
Unfortunately, if you weren't invited or someone's plus one on the list, you'll most likely hear about the party through the grapevine. Hendrick's has been throwing these parties worldwide and the next one, according to Ryan, will (maybe) happen in another year.
"Hendrick's realized, you know what, this is really great, but how about we let it fester for a year and blow the roof off even bigger next time," explained Ryan.
Let's hope it festers but is not forgotten because this party is one that San Francisco rarely sees, although anything more than once a year would probably ruin the party's novelty.
Critic's Notebook
Personal Bias: You know it was a great party when you wake up on the floor still in costume, slightly frazzled, and one of your fake eyelashes went missing.
Random Detail: Best and most charismatic performance of the night goes to Trixie Little and the Evil Hate Monkey's balancing act.
By the way: The thought or taste of gin usually fills me with revulsion, but I was pleasantly surprised by the specialty cocktails they offered (minus the one that tasted like ginger ale).
Post a Comment
foam order.com