i was all, that sounds cool, too bad i'm not invited. i've got to go to this book party anyway. no big deal.
then at the end of the day km is all, hey, don't you want to be my plus one? um, yeah. book party shmook party.
it's 8:30 and it's pouring. i'm in this chinatown tropical billiard hall on elizabeth & broome watching sportfishing and drinking a red stripe. there's a waterfall, a fish tank, a deer head, a small group of frat bros in one corner of the tiki lounge and a bunch of chinese (vietnamese?) kids shooting pool in the back.
km picks me up and we go around the corner to capitale where there's a bit of a runaround under the tent and on the red carpet. then she sees a celebrity wrangler she knows, i see a publicist i know, and we're walking down the red carpet, which is squishy and soaked with rain. celeb wrangler says ewen mcgregor is inside, we're like, cool.
inside we go straight for the bar which is of course only serving hennessy. so henny & coke it is. nice glasses, btw.
goldfrapp is already on.
alison goldfrapp is an amazing tiny goddess with her golden locks, her gold gladiator dress and giant gold heels, all breathy and whispery and singing crystal clear. the skinny bearded guy on key-tar is wearing an open floor-length caftan-esque robe. jesus christ superstar chic.
km says "look at his flabby belly!"
"you want to touch it, don't you," i ask.
"i do," she admits. "at first i was disgusted. but now i'm intrigued."
goldfrapp's dancers change costumes with every song. at first the girls were in bikinis and werewolf heads. then they're in white glitter unitards. for "ride a white horse" they wear mirrored horse heads. disco equus. i'm loving it so hard. i love goldfrapp and i've never seen them live, so i'm all, hennessy you've bought yourself a customer!
i run into jed weinsten, tyson, kenyan. ms and rm are also in the crowd. ms says "jane krakwoski's in the house." i turn and see her grooving to goldfrapp.
then the band's done. time for another h&c!
next the strokes go on. i don't give a crap about the strokes but it seems like a good time to move closer to the vip area and see who's here. immediately i see drew barrymore come down the stairs, dancing. and when i look to my right i see kiki dunst and the very small jason schwartzman. in front of kiki and jason are josh "pacey" jackson and diane kruger (yes, together ) and to the left of me is danny masterson. i'm surrounded! time for another h&c!
after the strokes are off, there's some wait time before kanye west. everyone is buzzing that pharrell is in the building. i see someone i think is jason mraz but it's gavin degraw. whatever.
as a-track hits the stage to warm up the crowd for kanye, i look up into the VIP holding pen and see lance armstrong and behind him? jake - i mean hot hottenhaal.
when kanye comes on, jake is rapping along - he knows the words. and you know who else is in front of me, loving every minute of "all falls down" ? "look," i say. "dermot mulroney!"
"no," ms says. "you mean dylan mcdermott."
oh. right. whatever. i was just happy to see pharrell when he came out. for the love of zeus, the cheekbones!
a great moment was when kanye's little orchestra started playing the verve's "bittersweet symphony." kanye said, "i love the movie cruel intentions!"
but i'll be honest. my night peaked with goldfrapp. the music, the gold, the lucite bass, the keyboardist in a sequin jumpsuit, the appealling/appaling jesus, the horse heads. my eyes had stardust in them, i wanted to join alison on stage!
listen:
you never know
strict machine
my pictures suck, sorry.
more later.
