Las Vegas has a bit of anything you could ever imagine. The big casinos cater to all sorts of lifestyles and fantasies. However, there exists a little bar, downtown on Fremont Street that will satisfy an itch you didn’t even know you had to scratch. Welcome to Insert Coins. Bring your quarters. Stay a while. Engage.
The line snaking outside the Cabana Club stretches nearly a full block from its starting point of a tatted Asian rocker chic with blue hair at the gate, down past a Harry Potter looking dude in jhorts, and finishes with what looks from here, a Pakistani Jesus complete with robe. This multi-cultural serpent has become a spectacle of its own in a town all too familiar with lines of lost souls outside a club, for this one is bathed in daylight on a Sunday afternoon! It even has a Twitter hashtag (#do-over-line). But don’t fret, for in exchange for your patience, your body will soon be baptized in the spirit-s: Sangria, Soul music, and most likely Somebody else. (RT @waldorules: @do_over EVEN THE SOCIALLY AWKWARD SOUND GUY IN STAR TREK T-SHIRT IS GETTING LAID AFTER THIS ONE!)
Paul Oakenfold is considered to be one of the best DJs and remixers in the world. He was the A&R rep who signed DJ Jazzy Jeff, the Fresh Prince, and Salt-n-Pepa. He’s scored top box office films, toured with Madonna, and remixed early records for legends such as U2. He’s toured all over the world and DJ’d in countless places, including the Great Wall of China. He continues to break the boundaries of conventional dance music and is known for his individualistic style that dates back to his days spent in the Ibiza club scene.
Saturday night the Music Box was graced with the presence of Paul Oakenfold, as he brought his Facelift Tour to Los Angeles after a three year touring hiatus. Accompanying Paul were special guests like Netherlands mixing hero Chuckie who warmed up the stage for Paul’s 2:30am to 4:00am set. With a new studio album on the 2011 horizon, Paul treated fans to a road test of potential new material and showed off his legendary mixing skills amidst a laser light show cascading from a giant headset stage set.
Before his set, ChinaShop kicked it with Paul in his dressing room to discuss hot off the press topics such as his current obsession with the word fugly, Vegas vs. Ibiza, how to cook a proper Sunday roast, and his guilty TiVo-ing habits.
Royal/T has shifted themes and turned its focus to all things Andy Warhol. The popular Culver City cosplay café kicked off “The Warholian” on Thursday with a glitzy party sponsored by Barbie. Festivities commenced with a Barbie pink carpet at 6:00pm graced by celebs such as Nic Novicki (HBO’s Boardwalk Empire) and CSI’s Catherine Willows.
Herds of SoCal-ers lined up at the door to view popular Andy Warhol pieces like Skull (Green), Electric Chair, Barbie, and Black Marilyn in addition to pieces from Jim Hodges, Yan Pei-ming, Takashi Murakami, Sean Landers, Damien Hirst, Adam McEwen, and many other Warhol-inspired artists also in the exhibit curated by Eric C. Shiner, the Milton Fine Curator of Art at The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. Food was catered by Ludo Lefebvre and the Grilled Cheese Truck, who had a special Warholian menu with selections like Ate Elvises, made with a banana puree, peanut butter, Nutella and apple wood bacon. DJ Diabetic, Emcee Insulin, and DJ David J entertained the crowd as guess sipped on glasses of Dom Perignon’s limited edition, ‘A Tribute to Warhol’ Vintage 2002 champagne.
Royal/T’s gift shop transformed into a Barbie paradise offering t-shirts, headbands, dangly Barbie earrings, and other pink accessories. There was a selection of Andy Warhol inspired magnets, prints, and household necessities such as the Andy glasses shaped USB port for sale. The Lisa Perry pop-up shop sold Warhol dresses, giant hamburger stools, giant ketchup and coke bottles, giant ice cream cones, and a plethora of kooky goodies.
Thursday night I trekked over to Culver City for a typical evening out. I watched celebrated former Katsuya Chef Kenny Yamada perform magic tricks behind the bar while simultaneously assembling sushi towers for a fabulous pre-fixe 9-course menu. I listened to the tunes of infamous LA party boy BJ Panda Bear spinning from a stylish lounge. I walked around and admired mystical pieces of a rotating collection of art, currently titled Never-ending Story: Fairytale, Fantasy, Obsession. I shopped for authentic Japanese goodies and found things like Hello Kitty dolls that were the last few remaining in a limited edition collection and learned about the craze behind Korean Pullip dolls. I admired oddities such as ice cream cone hairpieces and cupcake rings. I discovered intriguing gift shop gems such as cocaine and heroine salt and pepper shakers. I watched an entire wait staff of bubbly Japanese women wearing traditional maid outfits bounce around and fulfill patrons’ dining orders…all in one place, Royal/T.
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, the purchaser of The Louisiana Purchase, founder of the University of Virginia, but most importantly credited with the invention of the dumb waiter. No, not that crazy as song by the Psychedelic Furs, but a platform to lift food from floor to floor. Why in the hell am I informing you of such nonsense? Because I’m a lil’ boozed for a 9 yr old and the Wazee Supper Club let me play with theirs.
