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The Ultimate Pub Crawl
Looking for good networking opportunities, The Bartender finds
plenty to celebrate at a nightclub and bar convention
The Molson girls
kept The Bartender's hands full (of beer).
LAS VEGAS – Where are those anti-hangover pill guys?
This was a business trip, an occasion to meet people within the pub
and club industry who had come together to network, pitch products,
see the latest equipment and hear presentations from experts on a variety
of related topics. I anticipated good meeting opportunities accompanied
by long days and endless visits to booths and displays that, after a
while, all seemed to look the same.
But the Nightclub
& Bar Convention and Trade Show was not a conventional
convention by any standards. It was a nonstop party that began the minute
I hit the floor and continued well beyond my last call. It combined
beer with booze, networking with nightclubbing, shot girls with showgirls.
(While intended for those in the industry, it appears to be open to
anyone willing to pony up the $75 entry fee.)
My first clue of this came when I showed up at the Absolut Album Covers
Party at the Alladan Hotel ballroom when I was greeted by a waitress
offering not hors d'oeuvres on a tray, but cocktails. After that, it
was an absolut-ly outstanding time, the room largely consisting of mixing
stations featuring various vodka concoctions, as well as free beer courtesy
of Warsteiner. Live music was supplied by the Beatniks, an excellent
cover band from Seattle.
Yet this was only a warm-up. Ahead was a second alcohol-sponsored party
at Club Utopia, although everyone was really talking about the Bacardi
party later that night at the House of Blues. Suddenly, I began to take
keen interest in a company I had heard about earlier, one that makes
anti-hangover pills. I just HAD to meet those guys.
It was about my fifth time in the free Warsteiner beer line that I
did indeed stumble into them. It seems they have developed a pill that
does indeed prevent hangovers. It's some type of food supplement and
you are supposed to take three pills before drinking and three more
before going to bed. (The company is First Call and its website is www.preventhangovers.com.)
Okay, I had already blown the first part of the instructions but I
popped three pills and headed to the Bacardi party. Upon walking into
the House of Blues it became immediately obvious that I was going to
give the product a true field test under fire. The invitation-only party
was packed, go-go girls danced in cages, artists performed on stage
and the Bacardi flowed freely from nearly a dozen of bars and drink
stations. This was one "spirited" event!
 In
fact, it outlasted The Bartender, as I packed it in at around 2. Feeling
I needed rest more than a hangover prevention cure, I popped only one
of the remaining three pills (again, not following instructions) and
retired for the night.
The next day came too early as if often the case after a great party,
but I popped a leftover hangover pill and headed for the show. About
the only beverage on my mind was some iced tea, but when the Molson
girls offered up a cold Canadian brew, I didn't have it in me to turn
them down.
It was 11 o'clock in the morning and people were doing shots all over
the place. Dozens of alcohol companies were offering samples, either
straight up or through any imaginable combination of recipes. There
was rum, vodka, tequila, bourbon, whiskey and beer. It was some sort
of Bartender heaven, a jolly cruise through a happy crowd, bar-hopping
without going to a bar. It was, in many ways, the Ultimate Pub Crawl.
Suddenly, when it hardly appeared things could hardly get much better,
I turned a corner and discovered The Spearmint Rino, a "gentlemen's
club" that was gentlemanly enough to have brought along a few of
its dancers as well as a dancing pole to make the girls feel at home.
They kept on their essential clothes (as evidenced by the above photo)
but that hardly diluted the spirit. (Hey, when is the strip club convention!?)
This was across the aisle from a body shot bar where girls pulled in
other girls for free samples. Behind this, a confetti machine was booming
and the whole thiing looked like a controlled Carnival.
I have no idea how many drinks I consumed. All I know is that I was
there about six hours and they never did run out of Molson.
Where are those anti-hangover pill guys again?
The Bartender can be reached at bartender@pubclub.com
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