Kaskade at Tao

One of my favorite djs was coming to Tao and me and my brother decided to purchase tickets.  We were thirsty for some good music and  wanted to come out of hibernation from the long winter months.  For the most part, there were some electronic djs that I didn’t get a chance to see in January and February, but for the most part, some shows were too difficult for me to make it to.  One of them performed on a Sunday night, and I knew I couldn’t miss work the next day for some show.  Another dj was in town but the weather was horrible.  Kaskade always draws a big crowd, and we knew we had to act fast before the tickets were sold out.

Well guess what happened?  I bought my ticket and sent over my proof of purchase to my brother.  He informed me that he was going to get his by lunchtime.  To his surprise, the show had sold out!  Now what?

I tried looking for other sites to see if anyone else was selling tickets for this event.  Nothing.  On Instagram they held a contest 2 days before the show to give away some tickets.  I was getting desperate.  I figured worst case scenario I’ll give my ticket to my brother and he will have to go by himself.  Kaskade is his favorite dj and I didn’t want him to miss his performance. 

I didn’t win the contest, but a promoter of Tao did mention to contact him for tickets and table service the night before the show.  Me and my brother were not interested in table service, but were hoping to score one ticket if possible.  I lucked out with the promoter contacting me right away and asking me how many tickets I wanted.  “Just one,” I replied.  Dead silence.  I decided to continue the conversation on my own hoping I didn’t come off as a pest.  “Is there somewhere I can purchase the ticket?” I asked.  He finally replied an hour later that he was going to put me on his guest list but that I still had to pay.  No problem!

The next day me and my brother decided to head to Tao early in case we were going to run into any issues with this promoter.  The biggest joke in the industry is that there probably isn’t a “guest list” and might be denied at the door.  For all I know, his Instagram account can have a fake name on it!  We walked up to the bouncer and my brother was granted entry with my ticket.  I told them I was on the guest list courtesy of the gentlemen’s name.  I showed him our conversation via Instagram and the bouncer told me to go on in.  After security checked my purse, I was stamped and granted entry as well!  We scored!!  Not only were there no problems, but the guys at the door never charged me at all!  Me and my brother decided to celebrate at the bar.

Since we got there pretty early, it was fun people watching.  The club filled up pretty fast and eventually Kaskade came on and was amazing.  It was the perfect night for us to enjoy some good music!

Santa Baby Bar

I can’t believe I’m recapping a Santa themed bar but here you go.  My friend wanted to celebrate her birthday earlier than later this year.  This Christmas-themed pop up bar was located in  Wrigleyville.  Our friend wanted us to dress in appropriate Christmas gear, so I brought along my goofy Gingerbread sweater to work to switch out afterwards.  I was the first one there, but right away I noticed a group of CHILDREN running around on the 2^nd floor.  I almost spilled my glass of wine over one!  I think if I were to give them feedback, I would suggest having families show up earlier than later to the bar.  We ARE in Wrigleyville after all, and there are a string of back to back bars along the strip.  I wouldn’t consider it family oriented, but possibly provide hours of service earlier when there’s not too many people out for happy hour.  

The specialty cocktails were filled with whip cream and milk shakes.  I was worried about triggering my migraine, so I stuck to wine.  At one point, it switched to an open mic karaoke session and the singing was terrible!  Mostly because the participants were drunk out of their minds.  Lol.  I felt out of place here, but I think the birthday girl enjoyed herself.  She even wore a mini elf dress costume to her party which impressed everyone.

Birthday girl showed up!

After that night when the birthday girl slept in her own party, she texted me apologizing for what had happened.  She was feeling better from her cold and wanted to celebrate her birthday that Saturday.  Her friends were going to have a table at Tao Nightclub and invited her and her friends to join.  She extended the invitation to me and I told her I might consider it if I got back at a reasonable hour from a Simbang Gabi celebration at my church.  They were hosting a filipino Christmas and my friends were going to be there.

I did manage to get back on time in order to meet up with the rest of the girls.  We were told to get there specifically around 10pm so we could walk in and not wait in line.  I didn’t realize the entrance to the club was at the side of the building.  The nightclub was HUGE.  Much bigger than I anticipated, but then again, the layout was more spacious than they had it before when it was Excalibur.  We enjoyed ordering cocktails at the lounge near the women’s restroom.  We walked around to look for her friends who had the table.  After a while, the girls weren’t feeling the place.  They were disappointed in the music and asked if we could go somewhere else.  They decided on Underground nightclub.

They found their friends at the table and said goodbye.  I was indifferent.  I felt the music was going to get better as the night went on, but it wasn’t my call.  We took an uber to Underground, and luckily there was no line to get in.  Once inside, we found a spot to hang out and ordered more drinks.  This time the girls were enjoying themselves more.  I was happy that they were happy.

    

A Disco Birthday Party

I had a dentist appointment on a Friday so I took the day off from work since I had to travel to the suburbs.  I finished my workouts earlier in the week and had nothing to do when I got back.  My friend who works at Disco in River North invited me to her birthday party.  I haven’t seen her in a while and wondered how she’s been doing.  I made up my mind that I was going to meet her downtown.

Luckily the weather was in the high 50s.  I opted to wear my fleece bomber with my new graphic t-shirt since I could get away from not wearing a coat.  I made my way to see her but she warned me to get there a bit later since it was still empty inside.  I have not been out in a while and it was interesting to watch people walk around in the area.  Once inside I made my way upstairs and found her table.  She looked beautiful in her sequined two piece.  Her other friends arrived and I recognized one of them from our trip to Las Vegas years ago.  We were goofing around and had a blast that night.  I miss dancing…