Quality not Quantity
Somewhere in the hustle of slinging parties, I came to a rather atypical realization: I hate crowds. Contrary to anything that goes with the success of my job and social life, a massive hoard of bodies just makes me want to run in the other direction. In Chinatown we talk about this all the time, it’s a necessary evil (First Friday). Even though pretty much every bar manager and owner down there agrees it’s the worst night, it’s also the best night. I’m trying to understand what it is about a crowd that just irks me; it’s not like people in general suck. It’s just when everyone gets together and starts drinking, they get more obnoxious and in the way. Guys get too aggressive on their mating warpath and girls get uppity as a result. It’s better when you know everyone in the room and lucky for us, there are many nights where that is possible. The bars call them the off nights, but to us they are the on nights.
It’s a tough call from the back of the house. The dollar signs above all those heads are what’s making the off nights possible. It’s also attractive to most people when they open the door to a spot and walk in and they’re not the first ones in there. Walking into The Get Right at The Manifest last week, my first one in a really long time, it was definitely one of those nights. Sitting by the door early in the night we saw a lot of people walk in then walk out. It wasn’t crowded enough. Later it was the opposite. The lucky ones that could get past the entry way’s bottleneck to see the action on the dance floor got to witness why it’s so crowded. All dimes, and they can body roll.
RumFire on Friday night was a dream for a Waikiki bar owner. Not one seat open, a crowd of mostly locals and they were all beautiful. Fashion icons, ocean faces, music lovers and local celebs all there to watch the premiere of Kimie Miner’s music video, produced by Slapp Symphony and Matthew Honda. Great visuals, I’m liking where the camerawork is going these days. Showdown in Chinatown was solid as well with a packed house of film industry people but still enough room to mingle on the breaks. When I saw artist and Creative Research Cooperative mastermind Vincent Ricafort outside looking kind of nervous, I got excited. It was his first film but I knew it was going to be great; he’s got one of those minds that can take people in directions they never thought they could go. Not everyone nailed the mandatory satire theme, but Vincent not only nailed it, he won. Shake & Pop that night was its usual maximum capacity, but it was nice to have a special night at The Manifest with KLUV’s video premiere party and the eccentric London Calling music by DJ Grady at Bar35. It’s always fun when there’s a lot going on at once in Chinatown. It spreads everyone out nicely and doesn’t get too crowded. It’s really about the quality anyway. I would much rather be in a room with twenty awesome people than a room with two hundred so-so people. This Memorial Day weekend it’s probably going to be all about those numbers. People people people people. We’re going to really need our secret spots after that.
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