Just curious if anybody has heard of any parties for All-Star Weekend or had any suggestion on how difficult or easy it is to get into one the better ones. I wasn't hear during the Superbowl or Baseball All-Star weekend when they were held in Houston but I figured it would be similar.
http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=107804 All the main players and rappers parties are listed on this site. WED - SUN parties. http://www.ebonylifestyles.com/Webs...ife/2006/02_February/06_NBAAllStarWeekend.htm
So what did everyone do for the weekend? I didn't do crap, I bought a iPod instead, lol. Actually none of my friends went out either. Stack, how was Live over the weekend?
The crowd downtown partying was nothing like Superbowl at all. We had decent crowds but nothing all that great. Everyone downtown over prepared but not much to show for it. Thursday - Met Brian Cox, TJ Ford, and Kid Capri Friday - No one really special Saturday - Doug E Fresh & Lyric and some other Magazine Models Sunday - Tony Parker, Eva Longoria, Boris Diaw, Ronny Turiaf, Parkers Dad and Mom (Dad was freaking cool as hell, definitly how i wanna be at that age) Pictures - http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=109054
That sucks. I have been hearing that from a few people. That the crowds didn't really show up like people thought. I atleast should have drove downtown to check out the scene, but I was too lazy. I am ready for baseball season. Nothing like hanging out at Live before and after an Astros game. $1 beer, pizza, eye candy, it doesn't get much better than that.
Honestly there wasn't much to drive down and check out. So many players that thought they would make the all star game and had booked parties didn't even bother showing up. They go on vacation, like Carmelo didn't show up and it was a big deal. That was just to name one. But the crowds were definitly in the lower level of patrons. It was just more people hanging around outside looking for celebrities and no one going into parties at all. There was honestly more people outside just standing and doing nothing then there were in any clubs downtown.
Dayum, Camelos's name was plastered on about 3 parties that I know of too. I did notice that the lineups to about every party was changed about 2-3 days before hand. I guess I know why now. Atleast it seems you had a chilled enviroment. I do know of a girl who went to your place Saturday night and well...she got to know one of your security people very well, lol. Not sure if she cooked him breakfast or not.
I actually hit this Courvosier party at Vision (the old spy) on Friday night. It was pretty lame and so I tossed invites to other parties away for saturday. That and the fact that downtown was pretty nasty, of course I haven't gone out downtown in a while anyway. I then left and hit a place in Midtown and had a blast. I did however have a drink with Russell Simmons at the Courvosier party, who is an amazing businessman.
Yup..the crowd that came out to downtown really made the place look bad to anyone that did come and check out what was going on. The Police should have moved crowds and kept them walking or something to make it look like we were busy and people were doing things instead of being stagnant in parking lots and in front of clubs drinking and stuff. The city of Houston didn't bring any type of activities to the downtown area giving no reason for families to come check it out. It was just a bunch of people that didn't want to spend money hanging out and having parking lot parties. For superbowl and Baseball all star there were all kinds of activities and events going on that made people come and enjoy the festivities. The basketball all star was definitly a bust in my eyes...did not live up to the hype at all.
I think the crap weather was a big reason that the downtown scene didn't pick up like it should have. I think this also shows how the NBA's popularity has fallen relative to NFL and MLB since the highs of the 80's and 90's.
I was really surprised there was nothing going on downtown for this weekend. I mean, other than putting up the banners on streetlamps and closing streets I didn't hear about anything being done. No stages, no festivals, no nothing. It sounds like it was a weekend geared to the rich and famous, not the common man.
I don't know how to word it but a the same time the NBA has geared itself big time towards the hip hop market and slowly moved away from corporate america a lot more than Baseball and Football. This brings in a completly different crowd and at the same time a lot of the corporate parties that were thrown for events like the Super Bowl and Baseball All Star game just don't come with the event and spend the money they do. Im speaking from a business aspect because i have been in the middle of all 3 events and had my venue open for all of them. Here is my take on all three and why it's like that. Super Bowl - Completly corporate driven. There were very few celebrity, players, or rappers parties. Out of the whole week we had only one night (Sunday) that was being hosted by players. The rest of the time it was all corporate driven parties that were booked. This was not only my place but almost all the venues downtown. Baseball All Star - Was a mixed crowd of White and Hispanic and medium level as far as corporate sponsered parties. I don't think there was that many player parties. Almost none really. My venue was open and not rented out and we just had a good mix of baseball crowd. Basketball All Star game - Was completly a hip hop crowd that came out. Since the NBA players along with MTV and all these hip hop ties it brought out a completly different type of party all together. Any party that was out there was basically catered to Players and actors putting their names on parties to get appearance fees and all that stuff. Half the time the players didn't show up pissing off the crowds that spent money to get in. Some places were charging 100 bucks to get in but were completly empty inside. The crowds outside were just basically in the parking lots partying and drinking there and didn't bring too much business to the downtown area or any clubs for that matter. Im not sure if that's why Stern was slowly trying to enforce a dress code and stuff. It's a fact that NBA has gone more towards a hip hop route and clientel right now. They are still highly marketable but compleltly different crowd and it shows from the way the events were handled this all star break. From everyone i talked to all the regulars and people who come to party downtown stayed away or went to midtown and other places to party and chill and didn't want to be involved in anythying downtown had to offer.
