Friday, August 12, 11:30 p.m. Out in front of Rain Nightclub, well within the innermost circle of velvet ropes, the hostess keeps a colorful wristband bouquet in a kung fu grip. She is vigilant for VIPs and poised to drop-kick anyone who stands in the way of matching the right color band to the right person. We spend the first hour of the party by her side, collecting and swindling the right combination of bands to get our whole group to Rain's third floor. Successful, we take in the view during our victory lap. From way up here, it is plain to see that Stuff Casino Weekend IV is huge, filling the club's every available square inch. I can't see the ground, just bodies and the murky, misty moat around the dance floor. We then succumb to the lush lure of the open bar downstairs. Patrón is a main sponsor and we've decided it is our mission to help dispatch all of the coffee-flavored tequila—it's that good.
For four summers now, Stuff magazine has sent out a mating call, targeting the alpha males who rent out rooms at the Palms in record time to gather and celebrate gadgets, videogames, grooming and the female form. To this mix, Stuff adds thousands of women, fashion, hot music—and lots of water. The result is a holiday weekend and freedom from responsibility. According to John Lumpkin, Stuff's associate publisher, there are two truths: "George Maloof is a genius" and "Vegas is the one place men can escape to."
"Whoa!" That's my gal pal, Kim, on Saturday afternoon. She's migrated to Vegas for the weekend, along with the rest of LA. We're at the Skin Pool which is completely full and where multiple Stuff beach balls are in play. Each cabana houses a different celebrity, corporate partner or activity. We watch Phil Gordon teach poker; pay our respects to the fine people of Patrón, thanking them for my hangover; and watch Sony Online Entertainment crown the woman who most resembles a virtual warrior-babe in the Quest for Antonia modeling contest. Also enjoying the pool is a "cool, young Hollywood crowd," as Lumpkin puts it, which includes Shannon Elizabeth, Taye Diggs, Mekhi Phifer, Danny Masterson and Tommy Davidson.
Beyond the celeb-magnet clothing lines, Phat Farm and Baby Phat, that have been with the Stuff weekend since the beginning, local companies have been quick to get on board. Vegas VIP makes sure everyone shows up that night for a poolside fashion show. Models with stick-insect legs show us that shorts, heels and puffy vests are a glamorous transition from summer to fall. All the while, Bone Thugs 'n' Harmony give a great performance on a floating runway.
Sunday, August 14, 2:40 p.m. An official warning for heavy rains and hail in the Henderson-Green Valley area has been issued. For the first time since someone announced they peed in the pool, Rehab's devotees are doing their drinking next to the lagoon rather than in it. East-Coasters hang onto their towels and sulk, assuring each other that the storm will blow over. Locals ignore it, hide out in the cabanas, and go about the business of posing for photos. The SoCal contingency hasn't realized it's raining yet, as they never went to sleep last night and are still in their own worlds. If you think any of this is a damper on the partying, you are quite mistaken. Far too important is the mid-August weekend to let mere weather have any effect. Tonight, with their hair frizzier than they would like, the Bench Warmer Girls grace Body English with their lingeried presence and order in the universe is again restored.
It pours in the middle of a mall, volcanoes erupt on schedule, and pirates invade nightly. And in the one summer month that the government does not furnish the casinos, clubs, and promoters with the moo-lah cow that is a holiday weekend, two casinos are willing to step up and do the dirty work. Too bad the heavenly pantheon of weather deities seem to be the only ones who didn't get the memo about the Palms' and Hard Rock's plans for pool-side domination.
Xania Woodman thinks globally and parties locally. And frequently. E-mail her at
[email protected].
Xania's Hot Spots for August 18 - August 24
Thursday, August 18
Rain: Drenched Thursdays with San Diego's DJ Rags
Friday, August 19
Beauty Bar: Beauty Bar Special and AJ Jeans model search
Saturday, August 20
Tangerine: John Lewis' All-Star VIP UFC After-Fight party
The Hilton: OWL presents Pool Party Weekend
Ice: Godskitchen Saturday with DJ Bad Boy Bill
Seven: Second annual Players' Toast with Ice-T
Sunday, August 21
Light: Pole-a-Palooza IV, $10,000 pole-dancing contest
Monday, August 22
Forty Deuce: the return of Secret Society Mondays
Tuesday, August 23
Pure: DJ Sky Nellor
For more Hot Spots and weekly parties visit
www.TheCircuitLV.com and sign up for Xania's free weekly newsletter.