Pacha, Santos and the Amateurs of Nightlife

The New York Nights Insider for November 2, 2010
Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

Events
New York Comedy Festival
Get ready for the New York Comedy Festival, which starts on Wednesday, with recommendations from NYC Go.

Pacha Anniversary
The venerable dance club announces a superstar DJ Line Up to Celebrate its 5th Anniversary this December.

Crime
Santos Party House
According to the Village Voice, Santos Party House, Shuttered Since Thursday Over Drug Charges, Will Reopen Tomorrow

Music
DJ Turntables
Panasonic ends production of Technics turntables. DJs worldwide weep openly.

Prince of the City
Amateur Night During the Holiday Season
New York nightlife is full of amateurs during the holidays. Here's how you can spot them, avoid them and enjoy the weekend.

Politics
Hookah Bars
A Brooklyn City Councilman wants to stop new hookah bars from opening in Bay Ridge.

State Liquor Authority
The SLA moves to clean up liquor laws that haven't been changed since Prohibition.

Have fun.

Gamal

Hip Hop: The Underground Fad that Conquered American Music

By Gamal Hennessy

No other form of music illustrates the potential impact of nightlife culture more than hip hop. It has gone from humble beginnings in New York housing projects to dominating the popular music charts and influencing other industries and media worldwide. While there are various types of hip hop associated with different geographic regions (West Coast, Dirty South, UK, French, Asian, etc.) the movement began in New York nightlife and flourished into a universal phenomenon.

Rap music began in the Bronx, when the records played at house parties and block parties became individual performances infused with the personality of the people playing and introducing the records, instead of the basic radio practice of simply playing one record after another. The influence of West Indian celebrations, specifically dancehall toasting (chanting or talking over a steady beat) combined with R&B, disco, funk and soul to create a distinct new sound.

In the early 1980s, early pioneers like Grandmaster Flash, Grand Wizard Theodore and the Furious Five developed the techniques of scratching, cutting and mixing at uptown venues like Disco Fever. Afrika Bambatta and the Zulu Nation brought hip hop out of the Bronx and into mainstream venues like Danceteria and the Roxy. He was followed closely by other local acts including Run DMC and Kurtis Blow.

Music critics labeled hip hop as a passing fad, but DJs began to spin records in venues all over the city. By the late 80s, artists as divergent as Eric B, LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys began to create radio ready songs and paved the way for a golden age of hip hop that gave us Public Enemy, De La Soul, a Tribe Called Quest and the Notorious BIG.

Hip hop began to spread across the US and into other countries by the mid 1990s. It was at this point that the genre was fully embraced by the mainstream. Groups like the Wu Tang Clan translated their musical success into clothing brands, video games and films. Moguls like Jay-Z and Diddy used hip hop as a springboard to own record companies, nightclubs, sports franchises, film production studios, clothing lines and real estate ventures.

Today, hip hop is the default musical genre of nightlife. It dominates the Billboard charts and the video play lists. Many mainstream pop songs have guest appearances from major hip hop acts embedded in them. Patrons looking for mainstream hip hop can go anywhere from Santos Party House to Hudson Terrace. People looking for the old school classics can run to bOb Bar or Painkiller. Anyone looking for the next big New York talent can visit the open mic events at Pyramid Club or the Nuyorican Poets Café. You can find hip hop in every borough every night. All you have to do is look.

The irony of hip hop is that instead of being a passing fad, it has grown from its humble roots in New York nightlife to a level of influence that surpasses almost every other genre of modern music. It doesn’t simply impact culture in terms of music, fashion, dance and entertainment. It has become a significant contributor to our speech patterns, language and the image of modern America throughout the world. Figures like Jay-Z and Diddy are symbols of the potential of nightlife to move from a counterculture phenomenon to mainstream dominance.

Have fun.
G

Your 4th of July Parties, Zagat’s Nightlife Decade and the Daniel Squadron Watch

The Nightlife Report for July 1, 2010
Compiled by Gamal Hennessy

…we hunt down the nightlife news so you don’t have to…

4th of July Events
New York is going to have hundreds of events to kick off the summer and celebrate the long weekend, many of them centered on the West Side to put you in view of the fireworks. Here’s a sample of some of the more popular events…

The Collective is having its first 4th of July in the Meatpacking District.

There will be an open bar yacht on the Hudson to view the Fireworks


Westside rooftop bars like Highbar will have a good view of the festivities

and the Circle Line and World Yacht are throwing a party on Pier 81


A little further away from the fireworks, venues like Pacha, Webster Hall and Governors Island are throwing big dance parties


And Santos is throwing its annual White Heat Party downtown

Most of these events require advance ticket sales, so order now to avoid the embarrassing rejection at the door.

Media
Zagat Nightlife 2011
(Zagat)
When the first Zagat nightlife guide came out in 2000, there were no cocktail lounges and only transvestite hookers and butchers willingly went to the Meatpacking District. Ten years later, the latest Zagat guide is highlighting rooftop bars, up and coming Brooklyn neighborhoods and the rebirth of the Meatpacking District. You can pick up the latest copy of this guide today if you want to know where to go.

Nightlife Patron Survey
(Reuters)
The new Zagat guide also shows a decline in patronage across the nightlife scene. Compared to 2000, we are going out less, drinking less and spending less now. Most of this is attributed to Wall Street’s collapse, but higher prices per drink, fallout from 9/11 and NIMBY infringement on the total number of venues probably also played a part. I’m going out as much as I can, but I can’t do it by myself. Come join me.

Squadron Watch
(Eater)
State Senator Daniel Squadron is once again pushing through legislation designed to kill nightlife in New York City. His latest bill would allow the SLA to revoke a liquor license for any venue that has six or more complaints against it in a 60 day period. Since NIMBY’s have been known to coordinate with each other on message boards to systematically target venues they do not like, it is easy to see how many popular spots could get six or more complaints against it in a week. This won’t mean much to you, until you show up at your favorite spot and it isn’t there anymore.

Have fun
Gamal