Thursday, April 27, 8 p.m. Waiting for the elevator to whisk me up to Ghostbar, I have a moment to sift through memories of my move from New York to Vegas. "So what casino will you be living in?" my friends asked. I wanted to hit them. Did I mention they had Ivy League degrees hanging on their walls? But that was five years ago, when Vegas wasn't prominently featured in every show, movie, magazine, music video and newspaper like today. Now, thanks to shows like Las Vegas, the public knows locals do not all live in trailers in a vacant, windblown desert just feet off the Strip, and that we have actual neighborhoods, schools, parks and lives.
Tonight, as I embark on the kickoff of GQ Lounge Weekend—yes, another Weekend with a capital W—I realize the answer to my wayward friends' question is "I live at the Palms." Or at least I will for the next few nights.
A party marathon is a frequent occurrence in Sin City, and probably the only sort I'll ever participate in as it's too hard to run in these heels. Hey, if you're going to spend the advertising dollars to take over a casino for the night, you might as well get your money's worth. Why not band together with other trendy, similarly-minded companies and really give every men's magazine reader a reason to sit up, take notice and jump on a Southwest flight to Vegas? They also wisely give every woman a reason to show up: goodie bags.
Stuff Magazine Weekend last summer had me visiting my first celebrity gifting suite; Benchwarmer Weekend brought an unreasonable number of hot chicks to the Hard Rock; Viva Las Vegas Weekend most recently had me dressing up in rockabilly fashion and loving every second of it; and with GQ Weekend, I'll spend more time at Ghostbar and Rain than I'll spend in my own house. Good thing it's a good party!
Tonight, we're celebrating the wrap of Scrubs' fifth season in Rain, and Armani's new Code cologne in Ghostbar. On the red carpet, I'm not surprised to hear the Scrubs stars extol the many virtues of Vegas. I am, however, shocked to hear one after another tell me that they limit their stay on purpose, for fear of Vegas' effect on their lives. Hot young actor Travis Schuldt bursts my girlish bubble when he tells me "I can't stay in Vegas too long or I come back broke .... It's not Vegas; it's the tables." One cast member even states he has a strict 48-hour policy regarding our town.
On Friday night, I return and greet the familiar smiling faces of VIP host Mike and the pretty girl-with-clipboard. Like many, I try cracking a joke with the security guard as he asks to check my ID. "What, you don't remember me from last night?" He smiles, but only just barely, and the elevator once again sends me up to Ghostbar—which is empty. I mean really empty. Only about 50 people in total and they're all taking in the view, leaving the bar to me. But I speak too soon; a couple of rounds of elevators later and we are a comfortable couple hundred, and when Hoobastank takes to the mini-stage to debut songs from their new album, Every Man For Himself, I am so close I could reach out and adjust the microphone.
"I enjoyed Hoobastank's performance the most," says Natalia Badzjo, a manager with the N9NE Group, once the hectic weekend is concluded. "We are always very happy when it's a success. After all the hard work, it's so nice to see the outcome. That what it all came down to, the outcome."
But the Weekend trend does not stop there. This month alone, we'll see at least three more. May 25 through May 27, Victoria's Secret at the Forum Shops and Jet Nightclub will collaborate for a Very Sexy Weekend of meet 'n' greets with burlesque star Dita Von Teese and supermodels Karolina Kurkova and Izabel Goulart. That same weekend, the Clubbers Ball Expo goes off at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, with three days of skateboarding, music, tattoos, pinups and concerts, including Rob Zombie, Bad Religion, Cypress Hill and Lit.
Think every weekend in Vegas should be a holiday? It is!
Xania Woodman thinks globally and parties locally. And frequently. E-mail her at
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