groove armada DJ set at supperclub los angeles

i was bummed that we got there in time to catch JASON BENTLEY for only ten minutes... ten minutes of which it took me to adjust to the spectacle that is the Supperclub. Dirty Vegas was meh, even though i really like their hits and i'm quite excited about their new record. oh, and did anyone warn Andy and Tom that a girl drops down out of the ceiling every few minutes during the DJ's sets to twirl around on a harness-hammock? no one warned me!

GROOVE ARMADA play a great DJ set. they really do...even when they're playing in a space where the volume of patrons' talking is louder than the volume of the music...AND, the number of people standing and talking exceeds the number of people dancing.

and, if the greatness of a nightclub or concert venue is measured by the total number of people pushing past you hard enough to knock your shoulder backward (hard enough to have a foul called on you in the NBA or to have started a fight if you were still in jr. high) with nary an 'excuse me' or any type of acknowledgment, the Supperclub_LA is the mother of all clubs.

not only that, but at this one-of-many-former-L.A. movie theatres-turned-semblance-of-an-Ibiza or Las Vegas-hotspot, you may also experience the level of difficulty, hassle and/or confusion involved for a person to simply find the outdoor smoking area [photo on left] is a 9+, while the level of difficulty, hassle etc. involved to find a decent parking space (on a Saturday night in Hollywood!!?) close to the venue is only an 8.

outside, i met a very easy-to-engage guy with glasses who taught me that carbon dioxide being nozzled into an enclosed space requires humidity in order for CO₂ to 'cryo' properly.

aside from the uneasy feeling i got from seeing hordes of people in the vip areas, standing with their shoes on on white suede-like bed /couch things [see photo below right], i was fascinated by yet another phenomenon: bottle service.

the areas around the club's perimeter are strictly reserved for the bottle serviced. i wondered whether vip access would or could be granted to, say, 50 people or 'new friends' i somehow convinced to chip in at $2 each to buy one fifth of liquor. speaking of which, i peeked over the shoulder of one of the waitress girls as she frantically typed in one of the vip tables' order...and i swear i saw the price for one bottle of their grey goose vodka cost more than i paid for two nights at a bed and breakfast. (and i'm still convinced that the bottles are diluted in the back with water to make the vodka go further...especially since it appears the waiters bring the bottle up to you and 'open it for you' without demonstrating an unbroken seal...but unfortunately, i have no proof of that. ;-| )

incredibly, the doormen/door guys and bouncers at Supperclub_LA are extremely nice, smiley AND helpful...they really are. so, be sure to thank them, and smile back. because otherwise, you'll never find the smoking area.

BTW, just follow the right side of the dancefloor to the very front. follow the velvet rope, but take care to stay on the left side of it. otherwise, you'll get pushed and sneered at by the vip's and/or the vip's server. keep going and make a right. i swear the smoking area is out there, just past yet another friendly, smiley doorman.