Black, Bunnies, & Free Agent Bartenders

For the boys and bunnies that populate McFadden’s each evening, their attraction is the intoxicants, which inhabit bottles or clear plastic cups. For myself, the bartenders, managers, security, and staff are the attractions…

Upon my arrival for the Blackout Bash, I made a pair of rapid observations… Not everyone received the multiple e-mails and promos about wearing black (seriously, can you people read?) and whomever spent the afternoon decorating the venue, deserves free drinks for the next three months…

I know I gushed about McFadden’s New Year’s interior… However, Saturday night’s enhancement was more impressive and more unique… For this evening, you weren’t in McFadden’s, where spilled beer and thrown napkins stain the floor… You stepped into a quasi-cross between an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog full of photography (on the screens and arrayed in still montages throughout the venue) and a premier nightclub… Black draped curtains, elegant lighting, and enchanting stars…

Troy McKinley, the host of the party, and from what sources have told me, the concept artist behind the design managed the unthinkable… It’s not like McFadden’s hasn’t hosted a theme party before, they host one a week… He (in my opinion), masterminded a memorable evening… An even more memorable evening than New Year’s Eve, which I would have thought impossible…

McKinley, while genius, cannot take all the credit… The attire and the bunnies that showcased that attire, also created the evening… Now, I could spend hours setting up what I am about to type… I could discuss the mythology of the little black dress and it’s prominence in womanhood and how nothing (and I mean nothing) looks better on a bunny than the perfect black dress, but, instead, I will simply type the obvious… The troves and troves of bunnies (and they were everywhere) made this night…

From the silk-lace ensemble worn by one of the bartenders to the red and black flower print (with red shoes) worn by a customer bunny to Amy’s (McFadden’s Promotions Manager) low cut black dress to the hundred other different patterns and textures, the glamorous dresses and the gorgeous bunnies who exuded sex with every moment, were enough to turn observers into bunny hunters and hunters into stalkers… Compliment those dresses with the glow sticks, which McKinley was nice enough to provide and the evening found a whole new category of perfect…

Speaking of perfect… I know I have discussed the Lucky Charms previously, McFadden’s own combination of customer conversationalists and shot sellers, but I must discuss them anew for two reasons… The first reason being there are additions to the ensemble and the second reason being their brilliant role in this perfect event… Sytease (the leader of the collection) was stunning in her full-length black ensemble and silver necklace… And the rest of the Charms, who, from my information, sold an impressive number of pounders, jello and test tube shots, were equally impressive…

With that said, Brooke merits special mention… With the persona of a pre-psychotic Britney Spears and the flawless blonde hair and face of Hayden Panettiere, Brooke (although I only spent two minutes speaking with her), could rival Sytease or Emily Rose as McFadden’s hottest charm…

As midnight approached and the crowd, which began the night as impressive and swelled toward ridiculous, continued exerting phenomenal energy, two dozen (yes 24) bunnies overran the bar for a quartet of songs that included, appropriately, “Single Ladies.” I assume the bunnies (a few of whom were larger bunnies), would have occupied the space for the evening, but alas, they were asked to dismount so that jewelry could be awarded….

And then, McFadden’s made their one mistake of this evening… They never announced that the jewelry was being awarded… They announced ten minutes remaining until… five minutes remaining until… But, they never announced the actual start of the awarding… A half an hour after the five-minute call, I see a bunny (and this one was a bunny), carrying a little black bag, which I knew was one of the jewelry prizes… What the… Now, don’t misunderstand me, this was a monumental evening and the fact that an announcement was not made was minor, but still… I was writing about the event, the prizes were a focal point of the event… It would have been nice if someone had told me…

It also would have been nice if I had known prior to the evening that this was Karl’s last night at McFadden’s… I would have prepared a tribute video (alright, I am just kidding)… Like Taryn before him, Karl walked the bar one final time… Unlike Taryn, his hair was down and crazy and his soundtrack was “Welcome to the Jungle…” Karl shook, he strutted, he scorched more than a few willing throats with shots, and then he spent the next two hours with Lester taunting him with farewell selections, including “Total Eclipse of the Heart…”

Now, I assume you’re waiting for a sentimental salute to Karl… You wont get one… It turns out that while Taryn joined the real world, Karl is merely exiting one opportunity for another… Sources tell me he is relocating to Park Street Patio…

I don’t know if I will see him as much, but I know this… When a free agent leaves one franchise for another, my respect for that free agent doesn’t diminish… The same is true when one bartending superstar walks out from behind one bar, only to step behind another…