The New Year's lull has lifted, and you're once again ready to score at the open bars, mug for the photogs, and dance your ass off. So what are the shan't-miss parties of early 2008?
Helene DeLillo
The DJs Are Not Rockstars crowd will while you back into reveling shape
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Now that Motherfucker's dead and gone, booker Justine D. (formerly one of the four hosts of that celebrated holiday tradition) can focus entirely on her shows at Greenpoint club Studio B— predictably, the first exciting debut of the New Year occurs there this Saturday night, January 12. At Verboten, indie remixers Radioclit (Bonde Do Role, Matt & Kim, TV on the Radio) and Toronto's VNDLSM (known for an excellent electro version of Rihanna's unstoppable "Umbrella") join residents Van Scott and Alexander Technique from DJs Are Not Rockstars; hosts are the inimitable Sophia Lamar, June D., and Finger on the Pulse. Also performing at the premier Brooklyn dance-off: Blondie channelers I Love You Airlines.
Since her job is to ensure that everyone else is having a good time, I asked Delaney where she goes for a reliable night off. "David Mancuso's Loft party—definitely Google it," she says. "Oh, and OPTIMO in Glasgow, Scotland."
The Cool Kids, who ruled CMJ and have a Rhapsody commercial that's playing, like, every single minute on MTV and Fuse, have secured a DJ spot at the Annex's High Voltage party on Wednesday, January 23. (They also play the following night at Studio B.) Resident DJ Dimitry (who also spins at Robot Rock, my new favorite Friday-night venture, at Le Royale, where guests have included Jamie Hince, Peter of Peter Bjorn and John, and Bloc Party's Kele) keeps it in the GBH promotions family when asked what his downtime entails. "This might sound biased, but Cheeky Bastard puts on some of the best parties," he declares. "Last night they had Mr. Oizo from France, and it was one of the best DJ sets I've heard in a long time. I was losing my mind!"
People still go to Sunday nights at Sway, although I can't imagine how much Morrissey one can take week after week, and Tuesday nights belong to Happy Ending for the debaucherous Six Six Sick party with hostesses Christina, Feng-Feng, and Tiffany; the place also fills out the following night for Reverend McFly's Hopchank get-down, where hip-hop meets skinny jeans. A lesser-known early-week option is the funk-driven 205 Tuesdays, which offers handsome hosts Justin Miller (DFA) and Jacques Renault (Runaway) in the reliably fun basement of the Chrystie dance club—expect young 'uns, and the lack of inhibition youth brings.
To kick off the weekend, heed the advice of Fannypack's Matt Goias: "My standard go-to, always-a-great-time party is on Friday nights at King Size on Essex Street," says the guy who last summer convinced people that a Lower East Side bench was a weekend destination. (Dude's got pull.) "It's comfortable, there are always cool people there, and they kill it with classic and modern dancehall reggae," he adds of the night's resident attractions, Deadly Dragon Sound System's Up Park Classics, featuring DJs Scratch Famous, Queen Majesty, and Mr. K. "Also," he jokes, "there's free crack and everyone gets laid."
