What better way than to celebrate Cinco De Mayo a day earlier? Go to an open bar event that is launching a new Vodka!

Zodiac Vodka and Scooter Braun, kicked off the festival with a “back to the future” concept in order to promote the new liquor. When first receiving the information in order to rsvp and attend, I wasn’t expecting the night to be a rave status party. Initially, I had RSVPed a week prior to the event, but I got my confirmation the day of, so I wasn’t fully prepared for the evening. The event was being held in Downtown near skid row.

Wait… I’m sorry where?!

On the invite, it clearly said it was a private party, but when they said private, they really meant hidden because that building would’ve been hard to find if you were directionally challenged like myself. So it wasn’t necessarily on the streets of skid row, but you definitely had to drive through it. Parking of course was a bitch and I don’t like using valet, so we parked in Timbucktoo far as hell, and hiked it up the alleyways of downtown.

I don’t mind hidden locations, but pepper spray and a taser for the women would probably be a safe bet next time.

Once we walked up to the event we noticed there wasn’t much of a line. A few people were standing outside smoking their cigarettes and a couple of girls giving their names for the guest list. A replica version of the DeLorean DMC-12 from the popular 80’s film Back to the Future, was parked in the front of the entrance for party goers to take a photo of,  but it was inside that made the night epic. Think of a warehouse party. We were handed glow sticks to wear as head pieces to match the 80’s theme and walked into a crowd of people dressed to the themes of a time warp. First stop was the bar. Two women dressed as Rockabilly’s were serving up vodka martinis at the martini bar. The martinis were definitely not my cup of tea, as I don’t like anything with vodka anyway. Unfortunately being that it was a Vodka launch party… that seemed to be my only choice. Luckily at the other bars they had different choices on their cocktails list, and it was an open bar.

I guess you could consider this side to be the “pink area” if you got separated from all your friends. Like a Fuchsia color that glowed surrounding that entire room, after a while it became a little blinding. Originally I wanted to try the blackberry Moscow Mule, but something else caught my eye. I watched as people walked around with their drinks and there was one that looked similar to a Kahlua and cream. An old childhood favorite. Now, don’t jump the gun too quickly. My mother would always let me taste hers and then I got hooked on the Kahlua cream pie from Marie Calendars.

I asked the female holding it and she said it was actually a Black Cherry Mudslide. Black cherry Vodka, Coffee liqueur, cream and coca cola. It sounded good yet sounded like an odd concoction,  but I tried it anyway considering it was an open bar.

O.m.g this stuff is good!

It was strong, but still really good. If you don’t like your drinks strong, then you kind of needed to just sip it, but not before it waters down.

I noticed a lot of familiar faces. Many people I was happy to see and one who knew to stay in her corner. In the corner of my eye, I saw designers Alexis and Kym formally known as The Naven Twins chatting it up with fellow twin designers, The Sachika Twins. I adore these two and we always make sure to give each other big hugs and European kisses.

Efrem and I started to walk around, but I was on the prowl for the food that people had in their hands. I noticed it was mentioned on the drink menus, but because we arrived a couple of hours after the event, I assumed that maybe we missed the trays being walked around by the staff. I was still adamant in having whatever everyone else was eating, and I was going to get it. In the meantime, we continued walking around until the DJ was ready to perform. I saw one familiar face and ran up to say hi. It was Niko who I met at the Lady Gunn event.

Check out that night

Since I was unable to get a decent photo approved by him, I have nothing. But check out his page on instagram @whoisnikog. He’s a cutie.

I met him through a mutual friend and figured that if he was in the building then our friend Dave would be close by. Because Dave was the one who had sent me the invite, I wanted to thank him. Of course the bar is where we found him surrounded by a group of friends. I knew there was a photo booth and would see digital’s on the walls from what other guest had already taken. We walked into the line, but not until I ran up to a disco queen walking around with fries. She told me that in order to have the fries I’d have to take a straight shot of Vodka.

Ha! Not in this life

So, I passed on that and went back into the line when only seconds later I found the burgers and fries.

Earlier when we walked in, Efrem and I kept getting a whiff of someone passing gas. You know the type of people that use crowded areas to their advantage. They do their business then run off. Yeah well, I found the culprit and on the contrary it was actually the smell of the meat. How horrible. It of course didn’t taste that way because I scarfed that sucker down. We were next up and picked our digital frame from the many others. It was one of the photo booths where you have to be quick when you pose during the countdown.

The DJ was about to make his appearance on the stage for the time machine that takes you back in time through all eras of music. DJ Tom Loud, started the session off with an introduction through his laptop where he created a time warp on the screen behind him. At first, I’m not too sure that everyone understood what he was doing. I know I was a little confused, but it was definitely different from most DJ’s that I’ve seen. Taking it all the way back to the 50’s era, Tom played every iconic song and artists you could imagine. Efrem and I stood in the front near the stage with two others. While the majority of the crowd stood back, many who knew the dances of each eras, danced like there was no tomorrow. Everything from Michael Jackson; Diana Ross; The Beetles; Mick  Jagger; Journey, it became an honest cardio session on its own. I must have burned more than enough calories after sweating out my straight edges. Next time I’ll know to carry a mini flat iron.

DJ Tom made sure to interact with all the guest that showed their support to his unique style in DJing. In fact, even though he was flown all the way from Australia, he was personally invited back to do more events by Scooter Brauns himself. Alongside my favorite LA based DJ’s such as the EC Twins, DJ Tom definitely is in my top five. Efrem and I spent the majority of the night kicking our heels giving our own little performances for the events photographers, event producers and the crowd at which point I was asked to go on stage and dance. Yeeeeah… I passed on that too. My hair was already a hot mess and with all those lights, I would’ve been a puddle of sweat.

Periodically, I took short bathroom break to freshen up, but it was pointless by the end of the night.

Our friend David walked over to where we were dancing and then my camera started rolling. I managed to catch epic moments of balloons falling from the ceiling to the German song lyrics of 99 Luftballoons. The DJ calming the crowd to a sitting silence while Björk playing It’s so quiet (Shh), until House of pains Jump around started playing. The crowd went insane.  Dave break dancing for the crowd and our small group singing Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing, overall the night was an absolute success and the fact that I was close to giving up on the confirmation made it worth even more of the anticipation. Dancing, mingling, eating and drinking. Of course most importantly hanging out with dear friends. I couldn’t have asked for a better night. Thank you Zodiac Vodka and Scooter Brauns!

Xox

Make sure to catch some of my video clipping at @AmberSocialLA