Well it's official folks, I'm back on the scene writing about nightlife. My column Nocturnal Vibe went live on TrenDCtv.com yesterday. I'm actually quite happy with the overall look and can't wait to blow this sucker up with some serious updates.
For those just learning about this, Nocturnal Vibe was a nightlife column I created while living in Tampa, Florida. With the help of Dan Kelly and other assorted characters, the column blew up and became one of the most visited pages on TBO.com. It went on a 3 year hiatus when I moved to San Francisco.
Because of Mr. Dan Kelly and his position with Tribune Corp., the column is now making a return as a blog on the popular WB entertainment page TrenDC. Mr. Dan has even gone out of his way to have business cards made so we can make this puppy look professional. And I couldn't be happier.
Nightclubs and dance music are a major passion of mine. I've been drawn to the scene for the better part of 8 years now and can't get enough of that pulse pounding sound one experiences when entering a mega-club in any city. Most publications and entertainment rags do an incredibly poor job of covering this scene, so it's become my mission to fill that void. Hopefully the residents of DC will agree and enjoy what I bring to the nightlife table.
If you get a chance, check out the blog at TrenDCtv.com/nocturnalvibe and please feel free to leave comments and suggestions. And now I'm off to visit the family. Merry Christmas everyone!!!
So yesterday I got together with a group of friends to spend an evening out on the town at The Park at Fourteenth. This was my first visit to this K Street District club and I can't say I was overly impressed. Have you ever built something up in your head to the point that you were totally excited about it and yet it somehow fell way short? Well that's the best way to describe my experience at The Park's holiday party. I felt like a disappointed kid on Christmas morning who didn't get the gift he really, really wanted!
All I really wanted was a decent night at a new club. What I got was a VIP table that we couldn't sit at until 10:30, only to find out it was occupied by 8 people when we were finally taken to the 4th floor. We got a guest list that only had my name on it and so my guests had to stand outside and hope the doorman would finally let them in. And we got a club that was more interested in being a sports bar, with flat screen TVs tuned to NBA games all throughout the venue.
Overall I had an absolutely great time despite my disappointment with the venue. But my enjoyment came strictly from the people I spent my evening with (Dan, Matt, Rob, Lindsay, Lily, Gayle and others). We played Blackjack at several tables, acted silly like usual and Lily and I even busted out some Lindy Hop. So the evening was a success as far as I'm concerned. The following are photos from the evening...
You know you've got a pretty good nightlife scene in your city when you can visit 3 different clubs on a regular Wednesday night and each place is packed.
Most of you know I have two cats. They're pretty cool animals to have around. Though sometimes they start shedding and next thing you know you have puffs of fur floating around the apartment. And so when that happens, it becomes time to furminate! What you see below is the result...
For those wondering, furminating is using a small, very fine brush to comb the extra shedding fur off your cat. Sometimes they like it, sometimes they get annoyed. Today Ernie was completely content with the free massage. But Daisy knew something was up and went into hiding part of the day. After I was done she walked around the house ticked off giving me the evil eye. Then they slept...
Ever since we competed together at ALHC, Kelly has wanted to shoot more videos of us social dancing so we could work on some things and see how we look. The following is a video she posted on her blog of us dancing one Monday evening at the Chevy Chase Ballroom. It's not the best of videos, but it's kinda cool to throw on the blog for friends and family to see. Enjoy...
People are often asking me, "Doug, what exactly do you do when you go out to all these clubs?" I tell them I shoot photos for the clubs, promoters and DJs. But I'm usually looked at funny because most people figure a club is all about drinking and dancing. And while some of that does occur in-between shots, I usually try to maintain a fairly strict process of focusing my attention on the purveyors of sound. The following image was captured at Ultra Bar in DC one evening while I was there shooting for world-renowned DJ George Acosta.
The funny thing about this picture is you can see Glen at the bottom, almost acting as my personal security guard. Thanks for keeping all those rowdies off me bro!
I got to joking with my boss Tina a few weeks ago about political ideology and randomly called her a communist. Tina replied proudly that she really likes communism and thinks it's a pretty good thing. We then went into debate about how oppressive the ideology is and how, while everyone outside of the government is equal, they are all equally poor.
Truthfully, there is really no solid argument in favor of communism. Even if you were able to eliminate class warfare among the average citizen, you'll always have a governing class. And when you give any governing class that much power, well people tend to die.
I try to avoid political talk on this blog. But one thing I won't back down from is a new call to arms by the radical left. I call them "Neocoms" because they are communist who have rebranded since the days of the radical 60's. They certainly aren't what I believe to be liberal, nor do I consider them true democrats. They are a brand of individual who seems unwilling to look at history and lack a basic understanding of human nature and psychology.
At any rate, the above graphic was something I created for my boss after we decided to name our office after a typical communist regime. We called it the People's Republic of Tina Johnson-Marcel since she is our fearless leader. She got a kick out of it and I was quite happy with the little graphic I created.
Yesterday I wrote my first blog posting for TrenDC. A few months ago Dan Kelly invited me to revive my nightlife writing skill with a blog on the popular WB TV web site. Since the site gets attention for hosting celebrity diva Paul Wharton's blog, I figured I should join the team and contribute with my love of nightlife and electronic music.
My first submission is listed below. I'll update you with a link as soon as things go live on TrenDC. Nocturnal Vibe... Friday, December 5, 2008
Hello DC! Several months ago I was asked to join the TrenDC team and contribute my thoughts to a blog dedicated to nightlife. This isn’t the first time I’ve written about the nocturnal happenings of a city. And since I love writing, photography and nightlife, I figured why not? So what you’re looking at today is the start of a blog that will take you on a journey through the inner-workings of the DC club scene. It’s called Nocturnal Vibe because there is an essence of life that pours from the nightclubs and lounges of major cities worldwide. It’s a feeling. It’s like a sixth sense. It’s a way of life that touches all corners of your emotions and is on display virtually every night here in the District. And I’m going to do my part to make sure you know everything you need to know to be well equipped for a night on the town.
First, let’s get a few things out in public right off the bat. I’m not your typical features writer. I’m not going to play footsies with you by discussing unnecessary details of a club. You already know there are beautiful people there. You already know there will be lines to get in. You already know you can spend your hard-earned cash on a VIP table and get piss drunk off your own bottle of vodka. You don’t need me to tell you that. But what I can do is tell you why you should go to one club or another. I can tell you what the VIP tables at Tattoo have that Ibiza can’t offer you. I can tell you why BT is a show worth braving the December chill and why Baby Anne might just leave you blue. In other words, this is an inside look at clubs. It’s not a press release.
Second, I’m not going to tell you about every single place in DC or the surrounding metro area. There are publications out there that have staffs much larger and far more equipped to do something like that. And frankly, my liver just can’t handle a relentless pounding night after night. But I will tell you about places I believe are the true purveyors of the club world. I’ll tell you about clubs that focus their attention on the true star of their show, the DJ. If it has something to do with electronic dance music; be it house, trance, Dnb, I’ll write about it. If you like to dance at a club, this is your new publication home.
Third, I’m rarely negative. I just don’t like the idea of reading a column about something as enjoyable as a night out on the town and walking away feeling like the author is perpetually bent out of shape. To me, nightlife is enjoyable. And so my blog should reflect that.
So that covers the bases of what this blog is. Now the big question: who in the world is this cat telling me to go to 18th Street Lounge to hear such-and-such DJ?
My name is Doug Van Sant (dougvansant.com). I grew up in Delaware, got a broadcast journalism degree from Shenandoah and have spent the better part of my career working in the online departments of various newspapers and publications. I started writing about nightlife while living in Greensboro, North Carolina. The start was modest with a personal email blast that hit almost 1000 of my closest friends. When I moved to Tampa, Florida, I was introduced to a club scene ripe with world-class talent but starved for attention from the local media. I quickly found a number of clubs bringing in the some of the greatest trance and house DJs in the world, and yet no mention of the fact in any publication, independent or corporate. So I created Nocturnal Vibe as a connection to that scene on TBO.com, the online partner of the Tampa Tribune and WFLA. It fast became one of the most visited pages on the site.
I then moved to San Francisco and expanded my interest in nightlife photography. I shot most nights at the world famous Ruby Skye nightclub and started getting exclusive gigs from DJs like Christopher Lawrence, John Digweed, Timo Maas and Paul Oakenfold. My resume now includes a nightlife column in cities spanning from Miami to LA with photo shoots from Tiesto to George Acosta.
To say I enjoy nightlife is an understatement. I’ve pretty much lived it for the better part of 8 years now. My only true side attraction is my love of dancing Lindy Hop. If you’re lucky, I may break out some words on the subject from time to time. But aside from the occasional talk of 30’s jazz, this blog is all about the club world of DC. Ready… Steady… Go…
Welcome to urban marinade...a blog that lets you stew in the cultural crock pot of Washington, DC. I'm here to rant and rave about anything and everything in my little urban world. Generally speaking, that includes nightlife, photography, dancing and DC urban development. So there!
