by ryan m. on *review of weekly sunday night gay party VANDAM and the club in general id been reading about this club well before it opened on various blogs and in design magazines because its the first fully LEED certified "green" nightclub in nyc*, and in pictures the space seemed really cool and hip...in reality, not so much. i had high hopes because of everything id read and seen, but it was really lack-luster and kinda cheap looking, there are these plastic grass things all over the walls upstairs, and in the basement, silk autumn hued leaves cover the walls AND ceiling: tacky there was a really cool wave of golf-ball sized crystals hanging from the ceiling upstairs; that should have been more of the design element, the weird grass on wall and ceiling wasnt cute. the music was pretty great, not sure who the djs were that night, but i know there is a rotating group and its dance-able indy rock and pop, had a good time on the dance floor, so certainly a good night out, just probably wont return lastly, there was no cover this night, aweseome, but the drinks were really expensive: $8 amstel light, and $13 absolut and tonic...really? *this hasnt been verified by myself, as i cant really remember exactly what its schtick is, and honestly dont buy into that crap anyway, im sure those coronas they were serving left quite an impact on our environment, even if the tacky LED lights on the ceiling "dont use as much" energy as other lights
by Cortez Heesch on An appropriately rednecky place for Cootz's farewell party. I arrived at the bar in my redneck finest: Cinch shirt, Wranglers, and my freshly-cleaned Ariats. No hat and no belt buckle, because I'm not trying to fulfill EVERY stereotype. El Rio's Saturday special: $2 long-neck bottles of Bud. Well smack my ass and call me salad! No redneck honky-tonk bar is complete without a half-dozen assholes sucking down Bud, so I grabbed a few and waited for 5 other guys to start drinking 'em with me. Most of my time was spent on the patio out back, which was really well done. Chairs, tables, Christmas lights hung up long after Christmas is over----throw in a broke-down truck or two and a few toilets sitting on the ground and El Rio would've looked like the backyard at some of my old friends' houses. I don't know much about the band, except that they don't play salsa music. I know this because they explained that to a lost salsa dancer, probably seeking the salsa dancing place three doors up the street. When the band consists of fiddle, string bass, banjo, guitar and mandolin, I start getting interested. Unfortunately, the band turned out to be more Garth Brooks and less Charlie Daniels, so I eventually tuned them out. 8 more Buds and I woulda stood on the table and screamed "Play Still in Saigon, you sonsabitches!" Sorta a redneck long distance dedication (the distance being from my table to the band, which is too long to walk after 18 Buds, and the dedication being my dedication to hearin' some Charlie Daniels music). Anyways, a good time was had by all (or at least by me). When the Bud to food ratio deep in my belly tipped too far in the wrong direction, I wandered out in search of sustenance.
