Tuesday, February 28, 11:30 p.m. Pop quiz, club kids: What could Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake and Michael Bolton possibly have in common? Give up? They all have recently commemorated their birthdays with blowout bashes at Pure Nightclub. All properly broadcast by dutiful PR teams, all duly documented by the press: JT canoodled his lovey, Cameron Diaz, behind the sheers of the exclusive VIP beds; Mikey feted with the family in the Pussycat Dolls Lounge; and Paris ... well, she just turned 16 all over again, barefoot, birthday song, cake, embarrassing biographical video montage and speeches.
What is it about this megaclub that inspires the stars to celebrate themselves in such a big way?
If the multitudes of stories circling around watercoolers the morning after are any indication, the answer probably isn't privacy. Were a celeb to truly wish to play hide 'n' seek from the paparazzi, or even the general populace, then Pure's wild front entrance is not an aid to their anonymity. Random VIP lines radiate in all directions from the central entry point, while the general admission line stretches to infinity and beyond. Once inside, the Owners' VIP Room, complete with en suite restroom, is a pretty good place to secret away with the entourage. Until, of course, it's time to come out again.
John Lewis, former UFC fighter, current Las Vegas club promoter and tonight's birthday boy, knows it's good to be the king. How much easier must it have made party planning since he works with Pure? Lucky, too, for his girlfriend, Pussycat Doll "Luscious" Laura Goulet, who is the picture of a pinup birthday girl in her navy polka-dot halter dress, endless ropes of pearls and vampy red nails. A shock of black fringe perches above twin fans of eyelashes, all apropos to her persona in the troupe. Except for the piercing in her lower lip, she is a dead-ringer for Betty Page.
It also helps that Outlaw Motor Sports is celebrating its own birth tonight. The brainchild of famed West Coast Choppers alumni Alex Anderson and Bobby McCurdy, as well as Las Vegas nightlife and restaurant entrepreneur Billy Richardson, Outlaw offers an array of services appealing to the custom-car enthusiast. And what better way to mark such an occasion than by bringing in hip-hop artist and custom car aficionado Xzibit to "pimp this club" and give party-goers just one more reason to boast, "You'll never guess what happened last night!"
But the greatest bonus for a celebrity celebration has to be the club's layout, where flexible spaces can be opened and closed for varying levels of privilege. Of course, that may cause bottlenecks and traffic jams for the rest of us, but far be it from me to stand in the way of Paris and her peanut butter sandwiches. The show (off) must go on.
Wandering everywhere else in the club, it's busy business as usual. I pause in reverence for an amped busser who swirls a mop down the main hall, his partner dancing right behind him, dry cloths underfoot. I'll attest to the fact that good music can turn even the most basic task into an opportunity to get your groove on. Back when I was a club manager, I would've given anything for such a duo on my team, and I can still appreciate their efforts from this side of the bar. "I love the wide variety of people in Las Vegas clubs," observes my girlfriend Stephanie, a real, live local who has relocated to California, choosing humidity over dry wit.
Oddly, the entire Red Room is roped off tonight, requiring another in a series of stamps that will inevitably end up on my forehead the next day and insure a good razzing at a morning meeting. I am branded worthy to enter and celebrate yet another birthday, this one for Kim, a perky local food-server. Like Kim, I threw myself a birthday party at Pure last April and relished every clink of the velvet rope as it closed behind a newly arriving friend come to decorate my special night. Going home last year with electric-blue icing in my hair and clothes, I couldn't have been happier if I were an heiress. Or in a boy band. Or dating Nicollette Sheridan.
Xania Woodman thinks globally and parties locally. And frequently. E-mail her at
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