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Access Atlanta > Blog > Archives > 2007 > November > 05 > Entry
The party ain’t over in Buckhead
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
These three places spread a lot of jam, y’all.
And we’re not talking Smucker’s, either. With this whole theory that Buckhead is sobering up — going through some sort of nightclub cleansing — we decided to check out the scene. The verdict?
The party continues. “There’s this perception Buckhead is closing down. That’s not the case,” says Brent Burbett, general manager of Hole in the Wall on Peachtree Road. “We’ve been here 12 years and have a lease for another eight. This is a landmark at this point.”
Inside, DJ Mike Hendrix rolls from Eddie Grant’s “Electric Avenue” to Britney Spears’ “Gimme More” to Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby” to Notorious B.I.G.’s “Hypnotize” in a cosmic medley of rock, pop, old-school and hip-hop. Absolutely wonderful.
Partyers ate it up.
Next door at Moon Dogs, it was much of the same. A packed house drinking, shooting pool, throwing darts and puffing cigarettes till that icky haze irritates the eyeballs. When we first arrived, Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” was the anthem as drunken souls grooved on the dance floor and in the aisles. Totally festive and fun. Peachtree Tavern is the area’s rock mecca. The ’80s cover band Velcro Pygmies had the wildly energetic head-bangers screaming along to the likes of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” and REO Speedwagon’s “Take It on the Run.” It took us back to the cool days of “Casey Kasem’s American Top 40” video countdown.
Doing a little Buckhead club hopping reveals two things. One: There’s an Atlanta spark that will darken if feel-good, let-loose jam spots like these go away. Two: Black people aren’t the only ones who can do the “Cupid Shuffle” with deft precision.
Happy-hour mixer will nosh no more
Buzz ventured out to Joe’s Crab Shack on Cobb Parkway in Smyrna Friday for Shawn Joyner’s final monthly happy-hour mixer. We knew we’d be hitting the Buckhead party scene hard Saturday, so we just chilled away from the jet-setting hustle and bustle for the night.
Guests noshed on hors d’oeuvres of crab dip, chicken fingers, burgers and other goodies. They also sipped exotic drinks from the Buttery Twist and Royal Flush to the Pomegranate martini and, our favorite, Titanic Tea.
“I enjoy seeing people have a good time,” says Joyner, who’s been holding the event to get people together outside the club setting since January. “Sometimes it’s not about dancing. It’s about unwinding and having a good time.”
We must say, the highlight had to be chatting it up with our sports-loving buddy Mary Jones and watching all-too-happy-to-help Ed Bradley and Brantley Bruton work their magic behind the bar.
Hate this worthwhile event is gone. But the saving grace is Rodolfo Price is kicking off his own monthly mixer Nov. 18 from 6 to midnight at Utopia Lounge in downtown Atlanta for those who wish to mingle outside the club scene.
Hmmm … wonder if the lounge features the Titanic Tea.
Stats has sports bar, lounge vibes Stats, located near Philips Arena and the Georgia Dome, by its very name sounds like a sports bar and restaurant and in some ways, it is. The 15,000-square-foot space is partly financed by sports station 790/The Zone, boasts 70 flat-screen TVs and features personal beer taps that charge by the ounce. It even has a ground-floor radio studio with a two-way glass window overlooking Marietta Street that the Zone will use several times a week.
But parts of Stats exude a Midtown nightclub/lounge feel with mood lighting, leather seats, private VIP rooms, wood floors galore and a rooftop bar area with a retractable roof. Plus, Bob Amick’s Concentrics Restaurant Group (which also includes Trois, One Midtown Kitchen and Two Urban Licks) is involved.
Among the notables who popped by the opening party after the Hawks victory opener Friday: chef Kevin Rathbun, CEO of the Atlanta Spirit Bernie Mullen, Hawks NBA Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins and several current Hawks players including Solomon Jones and Tyrone Lue.
UNCOUPLING Carlos and Deborah Santana Deborah Santana filed for divorce Oct. 19 in California, citing irreconcilable difference, according The Associated Press. The couple has been married 34 years.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS Singer-songwriter Ike Turner is 76. Singer Art Garfunkel is 66. Actor Nestor Serrano (“24”) is 52. Singer Bryan Adams is 48. Actress-singer Andrea McArdle is 44. Actress Tatum O’Neal is 44. Country singers Jennifer and Heather Kinley of the Kinleys are 37.
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