Now Meet Guest of a Guest. Really This Time.

Building up a mysterious internet identity is something we know a bit about. So did Guest of a Guest, until today. That's her up there wearing the vest and hanging out with pumpkins. Looks just like we said she did. She's our buddy, and now she wants to be yours too. Meet her everyone, and then Facebook her, and then call her, and write to her, and do everything because Rachelle is the [cough] force [cough] behind GoaG, and apparently she has some big plans and stuff and wants you to read all about it as she sits down with her Uncle Steve to chat. We're going to go call our Auntie Clara to talk about it.

Quick Hits: Hot, Hot Box, Varvatos Parties Down & More

It's Friday. You're probably a little groggy from going out last night. You're eyes are blurry and blood shot, and they can only stay open for a few seconds to read this. We'll make it fast. Quick Hits! Qui Qui Qui Quick Hits!

1. One of our favorite Little Birdy's checks in to let us know that after all this time, the Box is indeed still going strong, saying "nice surprise performance by Mos Def at 330am...place isnt burnt out yet." Scandalous! Our LB also lets us know that Kiss and Fly is apparently kicking some ass, saying "saturdays hv been hot". Indeed.

2. Some secret things have been going on behind the plywood at the new John Varvatos store on the Bowery. A LB reports, "I saw a gaggle of pretty young things leaving the new Varvatos store (old CBGB) on Wednesday night. It looked like they were having a small party or something." How fun.

3. What's up with Steve Lewis trying to pigeon hole Jayma Cardosa during his gripping 3 part interview? Mr. Lewis repeatedly refers to the co-owner as "the consummate Bottle Host", despite her partners telling him that she is doing a bit more than that. Give the lady some respect. [GNML]

April Fools Day Fall Out

We had a lot of fun with our little April Fool's Day jokes. Our targets, GNML and GofG had some fun with them too. That's nice of them. Like every April Fool's Day, some people just don't get the joke. Take this IM we had last night with an acquaintance of Steve Lewis:

Super Cool Blogger: so steve called you or what? pls tell and don't be gay about
DBTH: oh the interview? that was an april fools joke too. DUH
Super Cool Blogger: you're kidding - omg i hate you
Super Cool Blogger: you're kidding
omg i hate you! you would do that, you are like that kid that got SOOO into april fools day i was like "wtf"
omg did you make up the blogging thing that steve said??
DBTH: hahahahaah
Super Cool Blogger: hahahahhahaaaaaaaaaaaa
DBTH: sorry dude
Super Cool Blogger: omg i am super impressed!
your points are at ultimate high
though may be from the endorphins i have from my workout
i was DYING when i read that, brilliant
DBTH: thanks
Super Cool Blogger: wow
DBTH: you know this is getting posted tomorrow
Super Cool Blogger: what that it was a joke
DBTH: no this im
Super Cool Blogger: marv

Silly Super Cool Blogger. Try not to be so gullible.

Steve Lewis Chats Up DBTH

Ever since nightlife scion Steve Lewis partnered with the good folks at JoonBug on Goodnight Mr. Lewis, we had been getting requests through intermediaries to do an interview. Finally, we relented on one condition. We got to run a sneak preview of it here first on our little site.

Steve Lewis: When I was coming up during the day, working with Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager at Studio 54, they told me that they had an idea for doing something with computers that would sort of be an online diary. And I had all of this peanut butter in my mouth, a whole mouth full of peanut butter, and when I tried to speak, the only noise I could get out was "brahg". And Steve Rubell, who was a genius, said to me, "yes a blog. That is exactly what I'm talking about. A blog." And so we actually came up with blogging then and there. And when I was running Life, I was doing everything, the door, the music, the design, making drinks, hailing cabs, blogging, the servers, and dancing. And that is sort of like Down By The Hipster, which I respect.

DBTH: Well, there is a group of people helping out, and all of the readers, so it's tough to say that one person really does everything, but we understand the comparison.

SL: When I did the door, I learned from the best. The best. And so when I blog and when someone like Rosie blogs, you know you are going to get some nouns, some verbs, some adjectives. Those are all some of the best parts of grammar. And you mix them together and create a successful sentence. And when I was running Life, you really only got a noun, but the noun was the best one with all different letters. So your posts are sort of like me naming the club Life.

DBTH: Well, we do write about Danny A, and apparently he was a really big deal at Life, so we can see the connection. But in other ways, they really aren't anything alike.

SL: Now, when I ran Life, we really only made money at the bars. These days you can make money with the tables, which I invented, and which are like little tiny bars. And by reading Down By The Hipster, which I haven't read by the way but I hear is great and doing all those things with the posts and the stories and pictures, it seems like you not only have the bar, the main point of sale, but also tables that are the second point of sale. So it's like your running your blog like I would have run a club, like Life, when I was still doing that.

DBTH: Yeah, well, we try our hardest to run this like a business, and we cover nightclubs, so you can definitely see the similarities.

That is just a little taste of what you will be seeing tomorrow on Goodnight Mr. Lewis. We thank Steve for taking the time to interview us and look forward to a long friendship.

Mr. Lewis Explains Kristen

Goodnight Mr. Lewis is quickly becoming the greatest thing that has ever happened to DBTH in our entire lives. It turns out that maybe he sorta kinda possibly knew Spitzer's lady of the night, but his friend's sure did. Let's let Steve explain:

It's 3 am, I'm in a club and a friend of mine is having a text message marathon with none other than Ashley Alexandra Dupre' our ex-Governor's special friend. "You know her, " I was told a couple dozen times, but I really can't remember... Everybody was talking Ashley last night. What is true and what is false, I cannot say for sure, but here's what I heard...

Michael James, 3 Pink Vodka and Sodas in to my conversation with him made me swear to keep his name out of this , so I will. A shortish, always tanned girl with a killer body, she was always rolling with ballers and always talking about her career in music. Indeed one doorman said the last couple times he had seen her she was rolling with P Diddy's crew. Friends who had "been" there said it all makes sense now, that apartment at the Landmark on 6th Ave., the trip to St. Tropez this summer, the vacations by private jet. She was shacked up with someone else famous this past summer. Two different people chuckled, but wouldn't give me more. There was that someone else in St. Tropez on a boat, I guess the one in the photo.

Part of P. Diddy and the Governor's crew. Talk about ballin. And we love the Steve wouldn't sell out, keeping it for the site to keep his JoonBug overlords happy. Onward.

· One Degree of Separation [GNML]

Danny A is Done With NYC

Tucked into Part 3 of Mr. Lewis's 3 part interview with Mr. Upstairs, Danny A, the super promoter explains why he is bored with New York City nightlife, saying

If I look at the whole club scene today, I have to tell you it’s horrendous. There’s nothing going on over here. I wouldn’t go anywhere and enjoy myself in New York now. Enjoying it is one thing, I can enjoy myself anywhere because I have people that I care about around me, but if I was a twenty-three year old guy coming to NY wanting to make myself in this scene and see who’s hot and who’s not…I remember going into a club twenty years ago and saying wow, I can’t believe it. What is there for shock value now? I’m talking about walking into the Tunnel on Friday and there are people dressed up like clowns and the room upstairs, hot crowd, all that back then, you could be in the VIP room and walk out onto the dance floor and you knew everybody. Today I walk through the dance floor only so I can get where I need to go. I don’t think I’m better than anybody else, but they’re there for a different reason than I am, they just pay twenty dollars and they’re just standing around, macho acting…

We agree and disagree. There isn't much going on around here, but it's not for a lack of shock value. Things change over 10 years, and seeing clowns, gospel choirs and double dutch shows at the Box really don't cut it. Customers are paying over the top prices to enjoy themselves, so what's lacking isn't the shock - it's the fun and service that justifies laying out all of those greenbacks.

No wonder the folks in London are going so hard these days - their currency is actually worth a damn.

Also worth noting, our pals at Guest of a Guest snagged an interview with Steve Lewis, the man, the myth, the legend, and he gives DBTH a little shout out. Go give it a read.

Strategic's Horizontal Integration

GNML sits down with Noah Tepperberg (Strategic Group, Marquee) for another magical interview. What did we find most interesting? Noah and Jason's ability to horizontally integrate clients into their properties across the country, saying

Every client counts. To build a business that will sustain itself over a few years you have to have a loyal customer base that will come every week or every month or every six months and support your venue. If our customers are loyal and good, we make it a point to cater to them and bring them into this Marquee, Tao, Strategic, Dune, network. They have access to the network and can use it when they need to entertain clients or to travel. It’s a very key part to why our business works.

12 months a year in every large US city, Noah and Jason are able to plug you in to a Strategic related property. This in turn gives them longevity. This is why you see a place like Marquee remain open and going strong this far into it's lifetime.

Turf War: MPD vs 27th Street

Run to the store and gather the bare necessities. Put bars on the windows, add another dead bolt to the door and perhaps look into hiring some private security. Apparently, there's a turf war that has broken out between New York City's most important nightlife characters, and they are taking no prisoners! It's 27th Street vs. Meatpacking District, and the winner will take all. How do we know all this? New nightlife blog Goodnight Mr. Lewis brings us this breaking news in an interview with Carlo Seneca, co-owner of Prime and Suzie Wong. Let's go to the transcript:

Steve Lewis: Your competition is really the Meatpacking District. It’s the clash of the titans: Chelsea against Meatpacking

Carlo Seneca: Exactly, we wanna pull as many people as we can out of there. I believe that Meatpacking is becoming too commercialized. The revitalization of this neighborhood is happening with Mansion and us at Suzie Wong and Prime leading the way.

Wow. Thanks for pointing that out. Who knew that the Meatpacking District had become so mersh that 27th Street would be able to bring some real authenticity back? Certainly not us. Probably not anyone. With re-zonings, rising rents, and a general lack of interest, both of these areas will be virtually nightlife free within 5 years.

But for now, please choose a side and keep your head on a swivel for flying lemon drop shots.

[Photo Credit]

Ahoy Mr. Lewis

We would like to give a hearty welcome to Goonight Mr. Lewis, a new nightlife blog run by nightlife guru Steve Lewis. You know, the guy that ran Life back in the day. Anyway, Stevie says "I will tell you what happened then, what's happening now, and what will happen tomorrow. I will make sure your night is done right." Fascinating. He is off to a huge start, running some sort of interview with the folks behind the already ous't Mansion, saying "This crew has enough energy to ensure success. In my humble opinion they are a force capable of leading clubdom to a new era."

Well, according to a Little Birdy who was there this weekend, this new era is going to be defined by lameness. Our LB says, "Was at Mansion over the weekend. The place is poorly designed, 75% empty, filled with ugly talent, and has fat girls in spandex hanging off the ceiling. Mark Baker himself came by our table to chat us up. Very creepy. I give this place 4 months." And that's that.

Back to the point, we welcome Steve Lewis into our realm. May the best blog win.