Melissa Lane

If Andy Warhol could only see us now.

When it comes to the celeb phenom, there's much to be said about putting our city in context: This isn't New York or LA, where celebrity sightings are de rigueur. We don't have the proximity to the real thing that these entertainment capitals do, so the thrill of the real McCoy registers much higher. Consider the Chicago nightclub landscape as a microcosm of this: It's littered with names like "Champagne & Celebrity Sundays," "Famous Friday Soiree," "Rockstar Saturdays" and "The List"--which, fittingly, is actually held at a club called "Celebrity."

At places like Crobar, famous folk are regularly brought in to host the evening. The club's director, Claudia Gassel, offers up a logic that is hard to argue with: "Everybody wants to party like a rockstar--why not party with one?"

Porn star Jesse Jane, "My Fair Brady"'s Adrianne Curry, "Desperate Housewives"' Jesse Metcalf and the cast of "Laguna Beach" have all been through in the last few months. And while frustrating diva behavior (from guys and gals) is par for the course, they are most often there in support of a charity. This, of course, is most likely lost on the crowd--but what is not lost is the fact that they get to meet (and ogle at) people they could never access otherwise. Pictures are taken, memorabilia and body parts are signed, shots are done. Gassel jokingly refers to it as "the tactile celebrity experience."

Clearly, if the demand wasn't coming from the public, this wouldn't be the booming business that it is. In a conversation a few months ago with Lady Miss Kier, ex-frontwoman for Deee-Lite, she candidly told me that despite continual bookings on the DJ circuit, she still didn't know how to mix and did not consider herself a DJ. But, after a pause, she rhetorically asked: "Somebody wants to fly you to another country and pay you a ton of money to play your favorite records? Who's gonna say no to that?" She is well aware that her time with the seminal early nineties dance group (which by the way, split over ten years ago) is what gets her booked at places--and packs them.

Similarly, Adam Goldberg (aka DJ AM), has risen to fame by association: Long a Hollywood favorite, spinning birthday parties for the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Cruise and Kate Hudson, his engagement to socialite Nicole Richie turned him from celebrity DJ into a bona fide celebrity, at least while they were engaged. Playing top 40 hip-hop with the occasional ironic eighties song and a sprinkling of club anthems, he now gets flown all over the country to DJ. His monthly residency at Reserve has people lining the block to pony up $20 to see him broadcast from the VIP room, where he stays all night.

(2006-02-28)

Also by Melissa Lane

Techno Shaman
The most apt description of the man behind some of the last two decades' most influentially dark and brooding acid and techno came from Karl Meier of Meiotic Productions: "He's really what you would call a country gentleman"
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Tip of the Week
Wanna know what kind of muzak Wal-Mart will be playing in 2030? Check out The Juan Maclean
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Hed Ache
Hed Kandi, the ubiquitous club brand comprising residencies all over the world, compilation CD sales topping 50 million, a multitude of Top 40 hits, and one of the most widely recognized clubbing-lifestyle identities in the world, suffered a major staff walkout--one that included the man who created it
(2005-12-13)

Run Jesse Run
Quite possibly the most prolific creative entity in house music--a Chicago native credited with birthing the genre--Jesse Saunders lives in Las Vegas and thinks that so should everybody else--especially if they're into club culture
(2005-12-06)

Spin Control
(2005-11-08)

Afro-Everything
(2005-11-01)

Spin Control
(2005-10-25)

Smooth
(2005-10-25)

Killing Time
(2005-10-11)

Tip of the Week
(2005-10-04)

Spin Control
(2005-10-04)

Demonology
(2005-09-27)

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