January 8, 2007
We All Had a Ball ... Eventually
About 15,000 people (though it felt like many more) got all dolled up Saturday night and headed to the Washington Convention Center for Mayor Adrian Fenty's Inaugural ball, and DCist was there to capture the revelry. Once we got inside, that is. Along with thousands of other Ball attendees, we were packed in like so many sardines near the entrance to the exhibit hall for over 30 minutes before we finally squeezed through what turned out to be merely token metal detectors, and gained entry to the biggest Inaugural Ball a D.C. mayor has ever thrown. And boy, was it ever big. Sixty buffet tables big.
Of course, to throw a party of that scale as a young, incoming mayor, Fenty had to walk a careful line between celebratory and ostentatious. It's a fine thing to make the party free and open to anyone and everyone -- fits right in with his administration's pledge of democratic openness. But how would the Mayor make sure no one felt like he was throwing money away on something like a party (even though it was paid for privately)? Why, by serving a limited selection of mediocre pasta dishes and hiring a catering company that charged $6 for Budweiser. We've heard there were limited amounts of great food from a number of local eateries, but either the room was too big for us to find it, or it was all gone by the time we finally got inside.
But no matter. We weren't there to be wined and dined. We were there to celebrate with our city as we welcomed a new Mayor to office, and the mood in the ballroom certainly reflected optimism. Young and old were dressed to impress, and everywhere strangers smiled and nodded and raised meaningful eyebrows at each other. We're starting fresh again, they seemed to be saying. This really is exciting after all.
Photos by Sommer Mathis
When soul singer Anthony Hamilton finished singing "The Star-Spangled Banner," Mayor Fenty finally came out on stage, flanked by his family and members of the D.C. Council. After thanking everyone he could possibly think of and conveying his undeniable enthusiasm to get on the job, and after Council member Marion Barry took more than a few moments to bask in his own, time-honored applause, Fenty reminded everyone why we were there: To party!
And that's when it happened: Barry started dancing with Carol Schwartz. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton and Vincent Gray boogied down together too. And we, the crowd, ate it up. There were the movie stars of D.C., with all their celebrity and notoriety, putting on a show for us, and it was hysterical. And joyous.
After wandering around the room people-watching and reflecting, our collective feet hurt too much to stay until the bitter end, but apparently the rumors that Chuck Brown would be playing proved to be false anyway missing Chuck Brown. And who needed him. Today we're getting down to the business of scrutinizing every move the new mayor makes. But on Saturday night, he was enough rock star for anybody.
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A friend of mine who went said that Chuck Brown went on early, at 7pm.
Who the hell puts Chuck Brown on stage at 7pm, anyway?
Aw, really? Man, we were stuck in the line at the door until at least 7:45. I concur, it's an odd choice for him to open.
The lines were silly and avoidable if you just went around to the entrance between the two convention center buildings. I'd have thought that they'd have crowd movement down by now.
DC is stylin'!
When I went to the Convention Center for the auto show, the crowd movement was horrible. Is the building poorly designed, or is the staff inept?
According to my sources (coworkers), Chuck closed the show, and was getting a lot of business cards and attention from the ladies.
Mediocre food? $6 Buds? Crowds of poseurs with cellphones grafted to their heads? Inept security? Just another Satuday night in DC.
Forget it, Jake. It's Chinatown.
Chuck Brown did, indeed, perform -- during the 10 o'clock hour. And despite all those hurtin' feet, there was spontaneous dancing most everywhere! A little bit of go-go before we went-went home!
Damn! He must have gone on minutes after I bailed. Stupid high heels.
I waited on lines for 45 minutes to get in. Then waited for another 30 minutes to move in a snaking line that let us move from one building to the other building. No one told us to skip the lines by just entering between the two buildings. Then we waited in another line to get to where the food was. After spending about an hour and a half and being no closer to the food or the party, we ditched and went to Acadiana where we found many other ball refugees in their tuxes and suits. On the Metro ride home, we heard accounts from others who did get to where the food was supposed to be and found nothing more than stale bread and empty trays.
The crowd control was absolutely awful. I don't know if it was the convention staff or Fenty's party people who screwed up, but there was no information on what was going on, where to go, or why we were standing on line. Very, very crappy job organizing the party.
Wonkette has some more details of the craptacular organization skillz demonstrated at the innaugural ball. Like Daddy Monkeyrotica used to say, "These people would screw up a wet dream."
Wilson Building monkey's p-ost could have been written by me.
Is it that hard to have someone say "you are twenty minutes away" or some such (like in ski lines)? Standing around with a bunch of other people with no explanation from anyone looking official is simply ridiculous.
We bailed after waiting in line for about 1:20.
Cheap beer is not a constitutional right.
Given that it was free AND did not cost the taxpayers, I'd say they did a good job with Fenty's ball.
Worst party ever! Horribly long lines to get in. Lousy, hard to find food. Mediocre beer for high prices. Concrete floor. Terrible sound system. Fenty's poor public speaking skills. But, hey it was free, so what do you expect?
Cheap beer is not a constitutional right.
Hopefully, the new Congress will rectify that little oversight. And unlike DC Statehood, it's something on which they're willing to spend political capital.
Well,
Here's a story from the outside the convention center. In typical DC "style," a great deal of the revelers drove to the convention center, rather than taking Metro, even though the convention center sits right on top of Mt. Vernon Sq. The drivers then proceeded to take up every parking space, real or created, within a 10 block radius of the center. Alleys, fire hydrants, Metro zones, EVERYTHING was blocked.
As a resident of the neighborhood these people wouldn't normally step foot in (can't count the times I've heard "you live WHERE?!"), they sure couldn't wait for that stale bread and overpriced beer.
Traffic control was less than desirable outside. People parked illegally everywhere, blocking fire hydrants, residents' driveways, stop signs, etc. Perhaps public safety should have been considered and folks who refused to take the Metro directed to the parking lot at the old convention center, but Shaw was packed with non-DC cars taking up residents' parking spots and illegally parked everywhere.
Calls to the MPD 3rd District and 311 only resulted in "it's the mayor's ball!" and non-commitments to enforce DC's parking laws by the convention center.
Raising that kind of money for a PARTY. Let's see how much is raised to do the other necessary things in DC. Fenty is a JOKE...a retarded joke.
THE MOST UNORGANIZED PARTY I HAVE EVER ATTENDED!!
THAT WAS NO BALL!!
AFTER WE GOT THERE AT 7 AND HAD TO STAND IN STILETTOS FOR AN HOUR BY THE TIME WE GOT TO THE BALL ROOM WITH CONCRETE FLOORS??? AND NO AVAILABLE SEATING I WAS READY TO GO HOME!
A SMALL RIOT ALMOST HAPPENED AS THEY FINALLY GOT A CLUE TO OPEN UP ANOTHER ROOM WITH CHAIRS
THEY HAD PLASMA TV SCREENS BUT THEY WEREN'T ON SO PEOPLE COULD SEE THE STAGE OR THE MAYOR!!!
IT WAS NOT A GOOD LOOK FREE OR NO FREE
DONT SAY BLACK TIE AFFAIR AND HAVE WOMEN IN NICE DRESSES BEING DRAGGED ON CONCRETE FLOORING!!
THE MOST UNORGANIZED PARTY I HAVE EVER ATTENDED!!
THAT WAS NO BALL!!
AFTER WE GOT THERE AT 7 AND HAD TO STAND IN STILETTOS FOR AN HOUR BY THE TIME WE GOT TO THE BALL ROOM WITH CONCRETE FLOORS??? AND NO AVAILABLE SEATING I WAS READY TO GO HOME!
A SMALL RIOT ALMOST HAPPENED AS THEY FINALLY GOT A CLUE TO OPEN UP ANOTHER ROOM WITH CHAIRS
THEY HAD PLASMA TV SCREENS BUT THEY WEREN'T ON SO PEOPLE COULD SEE THE STAGE OR THE MAYOR!!!
IT WAS NOT A GOOD LOOK FREE OR NO FREE
DONT SAY BLACK TIE AFFAIR AND HAVE WOMEN IN NICE DRESSES BEING DRAGGED ON CONCRETE FLOORING!!
THE MOST UNORGANIZED PARTY I HAVE EVER ATTENDED!!
THAT WAS NO BALL!!
AFTER WE GOT THERE AT 7 AND HAD TO STAND IN STILETTOS FOR AN HOUR BY THE TIME WE GOT TO THE BALL ROOM WITH CONCRETE FLOORS??? AND NO AVAILABLE SEATING I WAS READY TO GO HOME!
A SMALL RIOT ALMOST HAPPENED AS THEY FINALLY GOT A CLUE TO OPEN UP ANOTHER ROOM WITH CHAIRS
THEY HAD PLASMA TV SCREENS BUT THEY WEREN'T ON SO PEOPLE COULD SEE THE STAGE OR THE MAYOR!!!
IT WAS NOT A GOOD LOOK FREE OR NO FREE
DONT SAY BLACK TIE AFFAIR AND HAVE WOMEN IN NICE DRESSES BEING DRAGGED ON CONCRETE FLOORING!!
How awful the ball was is a matter of opinion?
What's indisputable is that it was shameful that the none of the empty $6 beer bottles, plastic water bottles or empty cups, ALL which were recyclable, were thrown away with the food waste.
NO RECYCLING AT THE BALL IS INEXCUSABLE (not to mention the Auto Show, Health Expo or any other event at the Convention Center, Verizon Center, RFK Stadium, etc).
Fenty's campaign colors may have been green but the ball was far from green. . . Rest assured, I've written my requisite letter of complaint to Fenty, Tangherlini, and other District department directors.
How awful the ball was is a matter of opinion?
What's indisputable is that it was shameful that the none of the empty $6 beer bottles, plastic water bottles or empty cups, ALL which were recyclable, were thrown away with the food waste.
NO RECYCLING AT THE BALL IS INEXCUSABLE (not to mention the Auto Show, Health Expo or any other event at the Convention Center, Verizon Center, RFK Stadium, etc).
Fenty's campaign colors may have been green but the ball was far from green. . . Rest assured, I've written my requisite letter of complaint to Fenty, Tangherlini, and other District department directors.
Jeez. I had a good time at the ball. Of course I got there at the beginning, so the line was still relatively short, and I enjoyed the food offered by the caterers and the restaurants (although I couldn't stomach the cold dishes that Indique offered). What made people think that there wouldn't be long, slow lines to get into a gathering of 15,000?
I agree Michael West.
I didn't even EXPECT there to be food at a free party for 15,000 people.
And yes, the floor was concrete, but what did you expect. It was clean. That's all I needed. i had an absolutely fabulous time even without those stupid crabcakes.