Art on Tap took place last night at the Dixon, and once again it proved to be one of my favorite parties of the year. Otto, Chad, the Nuh-Uh Girl and I met at the Saucer at 5:30 and walked down the street and found a cab and rode out there. Here are some pics:
The Bluff City Brewers were there, serving up their homebrew.
Otto, Chad, and the Nuh-Uh Girl at the Bluff City Brewers’ table.
Random crowd shot in the Garden.
Random crowd shot looking toward the gallery buildings.
Blue Coast Burrito was one of the food sponsors. So, you’d think by their name, that they’d be serving, maybe… burritos? Which is what they served last year. But no, this year, they served chips and salsa. You’ve got to be kidding me – I spent $35 for chips and salsa? Thumbs down to Blue Coast for doing a half-assed job, and thumbs down to the Dixon for letting them get away with it. Hopefully the Dixon can find a different food sponsor for Art on Tap ’08 who is willing to put in more of an effort.
This was the line for another food vendor, Jimmy’s Pizza and Dogs. Their deep-dish pizza looked tasty, but I wasn’t about to wait in a 20-minute line for one piece of it. That’s valuable beer-drinking time wasted! I also want to commend Elfo’s on serving up some excellent food – they had bruschetta and a ravioli salad that was really tasty.
This guy served up my favorite of all the homebrews, an apple cherry cider.
A place card for one of the home-brewed beers, Belgium Blonde. It was very good. Personally, though, I prefer Romanian blondes.
How could I not take a picture of a beverage named “Hard Creamer?” It’s strawberry daiquiri in a bottle, and it actually wasn’t too bad. People seemed to be amused by the fact that I was drinking a pink drink at a beer festival, though.
Fellow blogger Ptolemy Kat (aka Semi-Charmed Kat, East Bumblefuck Kat) with O-Boy and Cut (“Duchess Cut” for those who live and breathe Ptolemy 24/7).
Anyway, Cut/Duchess Cut told me about an upcoming party her Ptolemy crew is planning, and Downtowners, listen up, this one actually sounds worth going to. It’s going to be at Earnestine & Hazel’s Saturday, September 29. I got differing figures on the ticket price but it sounds like tickets will be in the $30-35 range, and you get all-you-can drink beer, Jello shots, and test tube shots. Possibly other beverages as well. Yeah that sounds expensive, but $30-35 is really about what the average Downtowner would spend at a bar Saturday night anyway, and it’s Earnestine & Hazel’s, a joint with tons of soul, an awesome jukebox, and the ever-present smell of Soul Burgers. Ptolemy will never convince me to go to one of their stuffed-shirt parties at the University Club (“U-Club” if you live and breathe Ptolemy 24/7), but for E&H, hell yeah, I’m in!
And besides, like I said, Kat and her crew proved to be a lot of fun, so even if I can’t convince any other Downtowners to join me, I know I’ll still have a good time. But I’d like to suggest to Downtowners that we show up and show Ptolemy how the professionals do it at an all-you-can-drink event. They won’t know what hit ’em!
They said they’d e-mail me more details on the party, and I’ll post ’em when they do. Don’t know what I’ll wear that evening, but I’ll be sure to pick a shirt that has buttons.
Anyway, back to the Art on Tap event… other than Blue Coast, my only other gripe was with one of the beer distributors. There’s a particular distributor who hires Beer Goddesses who have the night off to serve beer. But, this year, all the Beer Goddesses were from the East Bumblefuck Saucer!!! WTF? Why wasn’t the Downtown Saucer – the real Saucer – represented?
Some people were disappointed that the Sallymacs played inside, but it was raining almost up until 6:00, and for all the event planners knew it could have kept raining past the start time. They really had no choice but to move the band.
I will say that it would help matters out if the Dixon would rent a few port-a-potties for Art on Tap ’08 – the men’s bathroom, a four-holer, simply wasn’t cutting it for a crowd that size and lines got quite long. No idea how many the women’s seats but I imagine the problem was even worse for them. At 9:00, right as we were about to grab a taxi, Chad had to make a pit stop, and headed for the Dixon’s facilities. “Dude, it’s pitch-black outside,” I told him. “Why stand in line for 10 minutes? The bushes are right there! No one’s going to see you.” He opted to stand in line though. Everything worked out in the end, as the cab that had driven us out there pulled up right as we walked out to the Dixon parking lot.
We finished the evening with a couple of beers at the Downtown Saucer, and another great evening came to an end. Thanks to the Dixon for a fabulous event, and to all the beer distributors who participated.
7 days ’til Cooper-Young Fest!