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This is the place to be!" a party-goer yelled, as he jumped from a white-couch, ripping open his matching suit jacket and landing on his knees on the dance floor last night at DJ Cassidy's 29th Birthday party. It was hard to believe that the space that was housing one of the summer's most anticipated fetes was the New York Public Library, a very interesting choice for the world renowned DJ's party, in comparison to some of the other venues he has chosen for past Birthday bashes which have included Cipriani's, and Tenjune.
Guests were greeted with the requisitory red carpet treatment, with a herd of all the top photographers (including GofG's own JT White). Escorted down a model lined corridor, party-goers were then led into a ballroom with flashing holograms proudly displaying Cassidy's name, as well as the proud sponsors such as Belvedere and Sprite. Speaking of, the bars, which were conveniently situated on both sides of the party, stayed crowded but not overly packed all night, and offered specialty Belvedere cocktails. What could be better? Light up, plastic Belvedere ice cubes (if they ran out quick, I blame Ariel Moses, for the stash in her purse).
Even though the party officially started around 11pm, no one started making appearances till after midnight. And by no one, we're speaking of the heavy hitters, like Estelle, Khloe Kardashian, Adrian Baillon, Barry Mallineaux, CariDee English, Mark Birnbaum, Jaslene Gonzalez, Doug E Fresh, and Genevieve Jones. Also in attendance, of course, was DJ Cassidy's on artist on his production label, O'Neal McKnight.
As promised to guests, DJ Cassidy dished up two surprise performers, starting with Rakim, and ending with... Bobby Brown! Neither of which who went on until 1:30am.
Sorry for those of you who decided to turn in early. I was lucky enough to be thrusted into the front row, only to have Bobby Brown's pelvis thrusted into my face. Unfortunately no cameras were there to catch that magic moment on film. That would have been one for mom's fridge for sure. As you may have been wondering, who spins for a DJ's Birthday party? On the turntables, Funk Master Flex MCed for the night, making sure Cassidy got fully deserved maximum attention.
Finally, for those of us who made it to the very end of the night (3:30am to be specific), and were downing our final cocktails, Cassidy got back up on stage for a performance of "Man In The Mirror", a final tribute to Michael Jackson - one of many that occurred that night, not only by him, but by the smooth moving O'Neal McKnight as well.
Although Jay-Z slid in and out barely undetected (photographers were under strict instructions not to get photos, but it looks like JT White snuck one anyway), it looks like Cassidy's Birthday bash wasn't exactly the star studded event it was the past two years, despite the herd of celebs in attendance. Can we blame the economy on this one? Travel expenses perhaps? If anything, the guy's popularity certainly hasn't gone done. We weren't crossing our fingers for Obama, but we were hoping for Diddy maybe. Oh well. We got Cassidy in his red suit, and that was good enough for us. Overall, the night was a major success, as we haven't seen dance moves like that since Thriller came out in high def.