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October
24, 2006
I didn't see a sign for Guesthouse outside of 542 W 27th Street. Before I had a chance to inquire if this was the right place, the bouncer asked me, "What party are you here for?" I replied, "Thrillist," and he promptly showed me past the velvet rope. So I guess this is the place. As I made my way to the party on the second floor, I kept thinking about what a weird neighborhood this was. It's filled with upscale lounges, sleek clubs, artsy-fartsy galleries and auto body shops. Lots and lots of auto body shops. This place looked fairly upscale. Large but cozy thanks to the dim but not too dim lighting, subtle design, earth-tone walls on one side, wood and brick on the rest (sadly a bit obscured however by the oversized Bud Light banners). About our hosts for the night; Thrillist is an emailed publication meant to keep men up on the best in everything from food, drink, gear and travel. They publish two versions; a national and one specific to NYC. Tonight they were celebrating their one-year anniversary. I wanted to meet Ben who is the founder of Thrillist. But the insanity of this crowded party scene would ultimately hinder my efforts. By the way Ben, if you're reading this ... you throw one heck of a party! The music could get unbearably loud at times for me, but no one else really seemed to mind. The DJ was very gifted at taking classic rock gems from the likes of Lynyrd Skynyrd and turning them into hot, danceable numbers. For some weird reason though he'd only play half or less of every song which kinda made for some awkward transitions. Well, that is except for Love Shack. Of course he just had to play that whole thing. The chilled Jose Cuervo Citrico that was being passed by the lovely wait staff was a very nice touch. There was a limited but still impressive open bar which saved me from having to find out how much the drinks cost. My guess in a place like this they's be typically expensive. Tonight you could choose from an assortment of flavored Cuervo and Smirnoff drinks. If you wanted beer, you got Bud Light. During one of my many trips to the bar, I met Lauren of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of New York City. A sponsor for the party tonight, they work with high-risk children. Lauren is specifically involved with the 9/11 Together We Stand program. This program works to provide long-term help for children who lost either a parent or close relative on September 11th. If you are interested in helping, you can find out more about this and other programs at http://www.bigsnyc.org. Next up was master knife thrower and world record holder The Great Throwdini who was supposed to attempt breaking his speed throwing record tonight. So I watched and waited as he asked drunk volunteers to stand as still as possible. After all, there would be large knives whizzing passed them. After a bunch of these, Throwdini took his bow and the show was over. I asked him afterwards why he didn't attempt the record as advertised. He said that he felt that this was just too much of a party atmosphere for that sort of thing which would require way more concentration than the show he just put on. Despite the volume of the music and the density of the crowd, this was a very fun party. Before getting too entrenched in the free booze, I was able to snap off some pictures of the happy crowd. Check 'em out here. Links: |
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