Hip hopper Jay-Z and English footballer Ashley Cole are set to open a London outpost of the rap tycoon’s 40/40 restaurant and nightclub next year. The twist is they’re going to hire “unemployed young people” and donate a percentage of the profits to charity, according to The Sun. They’re looking at expensive spaces in the Pall Mall area of Central London and are lining up a short list of top chefs to craft the “ultra-posh” cuisine. Rumors are already swirling that Beyoncé and Rihanna are being considered as options for an opening-night performance.
"Jersey Shore" is being blamed, in part, for the closure of B.E.D. in Miami. The once formidable bed-based hot spot has been put to sleep, according to the New York Post. The paper called the club to see if they were planning on reopening, but the phone had already been shut off, adding that clients of the club were upset when the MTV reality trainwreck "Jersey Shore" filmed there. The upper crust of Miami’s society found it too down-market to be seen in any longer.
Poggled.com recently launched in NYC. The startup follows in the vast array of heels in the Groupon/every-other-social-online-discount-promotional-site category. It promises reduced nightlife by offering deals to bars, comedy clubs and nightclubs around Gotham and is accessible by smartphone app or the Internet. While the deals for bars seem decent enough, the author of an Eater.com article surmises that quality of the club specials — $500 for three bottles of Kettle One at Studio XXI — “will hardly ever improve to cover a night at a top level venue.” The site plans to add Los Angeles and San Francisco to its markets later this year.
More than 100 electronic artists took the stage for the three-day festival for Insomniac's 15th Annual Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas on June 24-27. The more than 230,000 attendees that came out for the event at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway were treated to carnival rides, dancers, fire twirlers, aerialists and a wholly immersive audiovisual experience from state-of-the-art lighting systems and pyrotechnics to a 15-minute fireworks display every night. For more on the Electric Daisy Carnival, click here.
In Providence, R.I., the Board of Licenses unanimously approved a plan to allow six nightclubs to stay open an extra hour to 3 a.m. on weekends and holidays. Although clubs will still close their doors to new customers at 1 a.m. and stop serving alcohol at 2 a.m., the new plan will prevent an influx of customers leaving the club at the same time, improving public safety. On July 18, the Board will meet again to consider extending hours at four other nightclubs in the area.
In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich recently signed a bill allowing concealed weapons into establishments that serve alcohol, including bars, clubs, shopping malls and sporting venues. The law, however, only allows patrons to bring guns in bars, as long as they don’t consume any alcohol or aren't under the influence of drugs. The legislation also allows business operators to ban guns by posting a sign.
Wish Ultralounge in Dallas celebrated its five-year anniversary last Tuesday. The event, hosted by Moet & Chandon and Belvedere Vodka, also showcased the talents of DJ Konflikt, resident DJ at SET, Louis, Mokai and Mansion in Miami. In 2010, Wish Ultralounge was part of Nightclub & Bar's Top 100.