Saturday, January 29, 12:36 a.m. The hip-hop room is already jammin', the late-night arrival privileges being reserved for the house-music crowd in Ice's main room, imposingly and affectionately referred to as the Arena. Though Mary J. Blige sings about being krunk, I am remarkably sober and perfectly at peace with that fact. I've arrived a tad too early for the Black Out party but it is prime time with a capital "Yay-yah!" in the Game Lounge, where Ice's resident DJ Mark Stylz is spinning the latest and oldest in hip-hop. At his fingertips, some awesomely old-school TV footage—think Soul Train and MTV's The Grind—as well as current music videos, hypnotically timed with the vinyl he's spinning. I succumb to the temptation to shake my ass like I'm in front of my TV, alone in my room, lip-synching into my hairbrush.
I'm pleased to see that the Vegas-wide uniform for men continues to consist of expensive, brand-name jeans; crisp, button-down shirts; and maybe a suit jacket. I whisper a quiet thank you to whoever coined the term "metrosexual" and made it socially acceptable for men to wear clothes that actually fit. Some go so far as to rock long, pinstriped suits with matching fedoras, a bit much perhaps, but I appreciate the effort, gentlemen.
"I'll stop working in six minutes," says birthday boy and Lead VIP Host Brian Klimaski, who then divines my drink o' the month by rolling his eyes into his head and harking to columns past. With six whole minutes to kill, I ricochet back and forth between the Arena and Game Lounge.
In the Arena, resident DJ Faarsheed spins away with members of his fan club coming and going from his booth, paying their respects to the maestro. The dance floor is a wide open option, with an unbroken perimeter of bodies like a chess board before the start of a match. Except, that is, for one gentleman dressed straight out of Scarface, with black trousers; breezy, polyester shirt; linen jacket and stiff, linen hat. He executes a slow break-dance, pumping the air with his arms, hat pulled down rakishly low like Sinatra. He ditches the jacket and when the lights flash over him, I can see a wife-beater shine through clear as day. Again, I appreciate the effort.
I am lured back to the Game Lounge when the Vegas Pin-Ups—four smokin', Eva Longoria-esque femme-bots and one hot blonde—blithely hop up onto the go-go boxes and hijack everyone's attention. All sport matching black, cropped athletic pants with cutesy, homemade Pin-Ups belt buckles in the style of Everlast boxing gear. This is paired, of course, with black bras covered in silver paillettes. The girls grind and gyrate in startling precision to the Sugarhill Gang's "Apache," one of my favorite songs, nicely mashed together with Missy Elliott's "Lose Control." They're toned and realistically curvaceous, their sporty physiques emphasized by golden tans. In other words, guys: the girls you wished lived next door. It's a physically demanding, very satisfying five-minute show that ends all too soon, and I think into my drink, the most original thing I've seen happen on a go-go box in awhile.
With one minute to spare, I wander back to the Arena's patio, where Coleman for Kids Illumisticks dot the seats and tables. The famous liquid-nitrogen blast fires into the crowd at full power, cooling everything and everyone down for a beat. Staff hand out more red, orange, green and blue glow sticks just seconds before the lights go out, bathing us in black light till we radiate violet. I didn't get the memo about wearing all white, and all in black, I radiate nothing and absorb all, like the ambient, deep trance and bass and drums that punctuate my every thought. Outside the club, the music swells and ebbs as the doors swing open and shut, and it follows me all the way home—just as a good tune should.
Xania Woodman thinks globally and parties locally. And frequently. E-mail her at
[email protected].
Xania's Hot Spots for February 2–February 8
Thursday, February 2
Ice: Porn Star Superbowl Weekend kickoff and DJ Joey Mazzolla's birthday
Light: Get Soaked, hosted by 10 Soak magazine models
Pure: Pre-game party with Terrell Owens and DJ AM
Friday, February 3
Empire Ballroom: Late Night Empire with DJ Erick Morillo
Saturday, February 4
Gipsy: Free premiere of Fabulous! with DJs Chris Adams and Mikey Swift
The Joint: Beacher's Madhouse spring opener
Sunday, February 5
Body English: Red Carpet Superbowl Sunday '06 jersey retirement party
Forty Deuce: Silicone Sundays, exotic dancer appreciation night
Monday, February 6
Foundation Room: House Society and BPM magazine present Higher
Ground with DJ Steve "Kid Millionaire" Aoki
Tuesday, February 7
Pure: DJ Riz and guest DJ
Wednesday, February 8
Mist: Vapor Wednesdays, hosted bar 9–10 p.m.
For more Hot Spots and weekly parties visit www.TheCircuitLV.com and sign up for Xania's free weekly newsletter.