The Scene Launch Party at Wokcano Recap

By The Scene | March 3, 2009

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Photo Galleries: The Scene Launch Party, The Scene Launch Party II

The Scene's official launch party took over Santa Monica’s Wokcano on Saturday night, and it popped off.

Most of The Scene staff were in the house by 8 p.m. to do set-up, greet the performers, and grab a few warm-up drinks (you know how it is). The doors officially opened at 9, and the place was packed to the gills by 9:30. For a second there, I found myself resenting the fact that the lines for the bars were insane, but then I was like, "Oh yeah. Right." — and went and paid for a beer at one of the non-free bars.

At 10 p.m., Jamie Kimmett kicked off the live performances with a unique acoustic sound to get the vibe going, followed by Shawn Hlookoff (who was a trooper and played with two broken big toes, caused at a video shoot a few weeks ago when a piano fell on him. Oof), and Jamie Meyer, who had lots of fans in the audience singing along to his songs. He managed to fit five people on the tiny stage up near the DJ booth and VIP area, which was an impressive feat in and of itself.

If you were there and liked what you heard, or you missed out altogether, you can check out all the performers on their websites:

www.myspace.com/jamiekimmett
www.myspace.com/jamiemeyerartist
www.myspace.com/hlookoff

After the performers, the beautiful DJ Casey Connor took over. She turned up the heat with the help of trumpet player Rico DeLargo. They kept the high-energy vibe going all night, dancing around the DJ booth and stage. If you had a thang, there was a high probability that DJ Casey got you to shake it, move it or drop it to the floor at some point. You can get a good sense of her style and razor sharp technical ability on her website.

A special thank you to our beverage sponsors: OneHope Wine and Cabana Cachaca, who provided the early comers with free booze between 9 p.m.-10 p.m.

Also a thanks to King of L.A. and Ed Hardy Watches, which hooked us up with some great prizes to give away to our guests. Thanks to our photographers Adrian Sidney and Lloyd Rosen, whose photos can be viewed by clicking on their names — Internet magic! — and our videographer Michael Rogers, who was busy all night long capturing interviews with Scene staff and users as well as B-roll. Thanks to Steve Yamin of Conscience Entertainment, without whom we could not have pulled this off.

And finally, thanks to Wokcano for letting us take over — a great venue, everyone had a blast, and I highly recommend their garlic chicken wings appetizer and the Singapore style noodles, upon which you can pour a veritable admixture of different alcohols (beer, OneHope wine, Goose, some shots of something, etc.) and be none the worse for wear in the morning.

Thanks to everyone who came out to support our official launch. This is the first of many parties we're going to be throwing, so stay tuned. Summer in L.A. is almost upon us, so we hope you like pools, particularly the kinds you can drink near without getting yelled at by a lifeguard.

Cheers,
The Scene

The Scene Launch Party Photos by Adrian Sidney | The Scene Launch Party Gallery
The Scene Launch Party II Photos by Lloyd Rosen | The Scene Launch Party II Gallery