All White, Black-Out

Black lights, white attire and a fired-up dance floor are what made the "End of Semester White Party" at Sharab Lounge a hit. The night also celebrated customer appreciation with free drinks until 11 pm.

Doors opened at 9 pm. to provide a relaxed and laid-back atmosphere before the party upstairs started. DJ Matt Mobley “MOB” kept a smooth, eclectic vibe to entertain a wide age range of people that were enjoying hookah and free drinks. Once the upstairs opened, a flock of white rushed up to hear the sizzling mixes of DJ BiG T that included Latin hits, reggaeton, top 40 and hip hop.

At the beginning of the night about 150 people were downstairs, but when it came time to dance, there was almost barely enough room to move. Sharab just had their capacity raised from 490 people to 790 by the City of Gainesville on Wednesday. With this raise, promoters of Fuego Entertainment were expecting about 400 to 600 people overall, and they reached that range. And while the drinks were free, a majority of people were really there for the DJs, who kept everyone going into the night.

- Photos and story by Mary Manchess

PKT Oasis Party

We scoped out PKT's Oasis Party Saturday night, and found out why the fraternity's parties are so highly buzzed about. For the first time since 2005, PKT dropped 25 tons of sand for its Oasis party. It was a night of fiery, tropical madness as partygoers danced under waterfalls, waded in kiddie pools the guys dug out and lounged under a 20 foot pyramid.
We hope Oasis lives on next year!




-- Filipe Deandrade

V-Day Weekend Wrap-up

Gainesville might be small, but its large on the diversity scale, whether you're itching for a throw-down party  or big-production, wining-and-dining experience; you won't be disappointed with this V-Day weekend's affairs.

The Food

Gainesville's fine-dining restaurants have pulled out all the stops to make this year special for you and your V-Day date(s). With special menus and and romantic packages, they take care of everything.

• Emiliano's Cafe: Emiliano's has created a special Valentine's Day menu with eight unique entrees and five special tapas. Want to celebrate early? Try the cafe's brunch menu. (352) 375-7381

• O!O Tapas & Tinis: This Haile Plantation tapas bar is featuring a romantic five-course dinner, including a glass of champagne, cocktail, glass of wine or bottle of beer for $65/ person. (352) 331-6620

• 101 Downtown: 101 has a five-course menu ranging from $55 for the vegetarian entree to $75 for the filet mignon option. (352) 376-4177

• Dragonfly: Here you'll find a six-course meal for $80 per person, featuring a special menu created by the executive chef and restaurant manager. (352) 371-3359

• Mark's Prime Steakhouse: Usually closed on Sunday, Mark's will be open this Valentine's Day with its premiere menu of fine beefs, fresh seafood and extensive wine list. (352) 336-0077

• Pazza Bistro: For a low-pressure V-day lunch try Pazza Bistro. This Sunday, you get a free heart-shaped Nutella pizza with every two orders of pasta or pizza. (352) 505-6977

The Parties

Not really feeling the love this year? Why not just get drunk in style? These three parties are sure to leave you with lots of good memories and next-day regrets.

• Sexy Single's Valentine's Party @ Rue Bar (2/13): This singles' party doesn't really discriminate. Whether you're taken or free, just throw on your red and white and join the latin-flavor celebration.

• A Black-Hearted Valentine's Day Party @ Sharab Lounge (2/13): For $10/person or $15/couple step into a sea of red and black for Sharab's high-class celebration. With a laundry list of top-shelf, low-priced drink specials, you won't leave this party sober or alone.

• Valentine's Day Bash @ Grog House(2/13): Join the Captain Morgan girls for a night of giveaways and super cheap Cpt. Morgan drink specials. With free beer til midnight, DJ Shea spinning and a full-blown decorations committee, this Midtown party is going to be hard to top.

• The Anti-V-Day Red Light/Green Light Party @ Lux Bar (2/13): Green light, yellow light, red light, STOP. Get red banded if you're off the market, yellow if you're taken, but looking (tsk, tsk), and greened if you're single and ready to mingle. Everyone will be wearing their hearts (intentions) on their sleeves, so you might just find what you're looking for.

The Music

Got a sweetie who's really into music? Celebrate your bond this year by treating them to some live music at Gainesville's best music venues.

• V-Fest @ 1982 Bar: Starting tonight and lasting through Sunday is V-Fest at 1982 Bar, with music by Shotgun Diplomacy, Boss Lady and the Company, Victory Blvd, and The Neighborhood Watch.

• Big Hugs: A Haiti Benefit Show @ Spin Cycle (2/13): Show your love for others, and come support this Hati relief show, featuring Michael Claytor & His Friends, Quadrophones, Bird Feeder, Michael Parallax and Rabbit Punch.

• Pre-Valentine's Bash: A GVL Roller Rebels Event @ The Atlantic (2/13): Featuring indie/folk tunes by The Early Twenties, indie/experimental music by Moonbeard and DJ Ernie Hotsauce's renowned spinning talents.

• Willie Heath Neal @ Common Grounds (2/13): For you country-music fans, there's Willie Heath Neal with the Takers on Saturday.

-SG

New Year's Eve in the Ville

With more than half of the town gone, this New Year's Eve the city of Gainesville is your playground. We've compiled a list of the best NYE parties around town. Choose one, or branch out a bit and bar hop to all of them. But whatever you do, don't stay home to watch the ball drop on TV. You made it through 09 and into a new decade, you deserve a little celebration.

• Never one to skimp out on a good party, Rue Bar's, 104 S Main St., "Bringing in 2010" party is sure be wild. The $20 admission fee gets guests free drinks until midnight and free champagne and Red Bull all night. Expect balloon dropping, laser shining frenzies as Kiss 105.3 and DJ R3IGN lead the New Year celebration. Preorder tickets at The Network Promotions. 
  

• Lux Bar, 211 W. University Ave., might not have the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball, but they are bringing in NYC DJ Just-Iz for its "Night of Mayhem" fiesta. An $8 cover, also gets you a free drink at this intimate downtown spot. For non-drinkers, $4 gets you in the door.
  

• Party at 1982 Bar, 919 W University Ave., with Douglas Shields & The X-Factors, Tyler Black, MP3J Sterlo and DJoshua. As a New Year's present to you, all this heart-thumping, body-shaking live music is yours for only $3, so you can have your beer and drink it too!
  

• Be the star of the show at Common Grounds, 210 SW 2nd Ave, Karaoke with Hairy Karaoke. With an endless selection of songs and a Grade A stage, CG's karaoke nights never disappoint. If the strike of 12 catches you there, the staff will be serving up free champagne toasts.
  

• If good beer and wine is your thing, move your celebration to Alcove, 110 S Main St. where Michael Parallax  jamesDUNK  and Big Smile will perform for your musical enjoyment. Make friendly with the kiddies there, and they might just invite you to the 2010: Year of the Spirit Cat after party.
  

• The Bo Diddley Downtown Plaza will be offering a free NYE party complete with champagne, balloons and live music. Opening the show is Other Voices, a "folk and roll" band, followed by the headlining band, The Imposters, a Beatles tribute band. The festivities will run from 9pm to 12:30 am.
  

Free Wine Tasting tonight!

What's better than a glass of wine? How about free wine?

Tonight is the last "Second Tuesday" free wine tasting of the year at Gator Spirits, and it's all about holiday entertaining. Gator Sprits will help you with your holiday party planning by featuring eight wines and appetizer pairings, with wines from the Jorge Ordonez Spanish Collection, as well as a couple of bubblies and some of our favorites from Argentina, Germany and California with most from $10 to $20 a bottle.

Join Gator Spirits (and INsite's own wine expert, Dan Eddy) tonight (Dec. 8) from 5 to 7pm in Westgate Regency (3427 W. University Ave.) No reservations required!

Grooveshark Celebrates Millionth User

The eternal marketing question—how to get people to show up—was answered last night as people spilled over each other and down the street waiting to get into Sharab Lounge for "Grooveshark's Million User" party last night.

Grooveshark, a locally based, internationally known music streaming site, celebrated the commemoration of hitting one million users with a private party, for which the word "blow-out" is not an exaggeration. The consensus around the bar was that people were there for the free drinks. "Anything free in Gainesville, people flock to," I overhead one girl say. "It's sad, but true." Guess I wasn't the only one wondering where all the people came from.

The doors opened at 10pm; by the time I arrived at 10:30, there was a line outside the door, down to Ti Amo on SW 3rd. About 250 people shuffled into the club throughout the night. Adding to the allure of the night, Grooveshark hosted SoCal hip-hopper Del the Funky Homosapien for an intimate show, during which people crowded the DJ booth, eagerly dancing and singing along. In my more rose-colored viewpoint, although the drinks and free show with Del were beyond expectations, I think we were all happy to celebrate a local company's success and the diffusion of its law suit with EMI records. Kudos to Grooveshark for getting people out of their houses on a Tuesday night, dressed to the nines and dancing wildly rather than just casually swaying on the dance floor.

DJ Thomas and DJ Ernie Hotsauce killed it with their mix of dance and hip hop beats that kept the dance floor packed the whole night through. By 2am, when Sharab had no choice but to close shop, people were hesitant to leave. As the manager had to usher people out, the crowd gathered on the street waiting for the next move. The night was still young and no one was ready to go home. Off to the after-party.

—Stephanie Granada, Photos by Timothy Carswell

University House - "Promcoming" 2009

For most, prom is a once-in-a-lifetime experience in which inhibitions are shed, first times are had and cheeziness is exemplified to the max. But with all the possibilities for fun and down-the-road laughs, is it fair for formal dances to be left in the dust of our high school yearbooks?

Steve Goonen, a business student and special event planner at University House - 13th Street doesn't think so. Every winter break, he and his high school friends have an annual reunion in the form of a "Promcoming" event. "We just had so much fun in high school," he says.

Last night, he let Gainesville in on the fun, as University Houses hosted Promcoming 2009 in it's clubhouse.

The night was a success as girls dressed to the nines with empire-waist gowns, fake nails, too-orange spray tans, and corsages. The guys were a bit more modest in their choices of slacks, button downs and ties. Unfortunately, no coat tails, top hots or cummerbunds were spotted.

In true prom fashion a photo booth was set up, complete with a starry-Gator-night backdrop. INsite provided camera direction to ensure the pictures were as legit as possible. The train? The awkward crooked gaze? Oh yea, we went there.

The DJ alternated the music selection between current hip hop beats, for those with more recent prom experiences, and some old-school tracks for those of us from earlier graduating classes. Gotta love the Ace of Base!

The food selection was better than you would expect from a prom. Cookies, cakes, a dozen mixers. The addition of alcohol was a non-prom sanctioned extra we were more than willing to accept. Word on the street is that someone even spiked the punch. Sorry mom. But, thankfully, the party was shut down by the GPD before we started crashing the football field and booking hotel rooms -- apparently, some people had an early morning exam.

Steve hopes Promcoming will become an annual event that will continue even after he is gone. We welcome any event that lets us put rhinestones in our hair and pretend we're 17 again.

—Stephanie Granada
Photos: Sean Kelly