On Friday night, Charlie Sheen "performed" in NYC and hosted an after-party at Dragonfly, a club located in a sleepy town in NJ called Carlstadt.. Of course, being that it's only ten minutes away from my place, I attended, accompanied by my friend Rob, who was lucky to get a VIP ticket an associate of mine was unable to use. And let me tell you, I was a bit surprised by the evening.
First off, the majority of attendees were middle aged people, which threw me for a loop, for I, alongside the venue workers apparently, would've expected a younger crowd. But what do I know? Upon arriving, all attendees were forced to use Valet parking. What sucked was that no notice about Valet parking was given beforehand, but, whatever. The VIP tickets my friend and I possessed got us access to a heated party tent. You read that correctly - VIP was a party tent. Yeah! Drink selection was ehh.… We weren't able to get table service (because they ended up giving all the tables to celebs). I was a bit disappointed that my request for Belvedere was initially snubbed (they were pushing Grey Goose), but, miraculously, they found a bottle of my preferred vodka treat. We were also treated to a shot of Patron Coffee, which made a fan out of me.
Wandering around the tent, checking out the sights, I noticed a mechanical bull. I was very excited about this, especially with my fondness of riding them, but then refused the opportunity to ride due to wearing a skirt. I then noticed that the Batmobile pulled up to the side of the venue. Of course, no one was going to force the owner to Valet park that vintage relic, so he was safe. I wanted to take a photo with the car of my dreams, but, alas, I was informed by security that if I jumped the gate, I was out. So, no photos with the Batmobile for poor little me....
As time passed, more NJ-based celebs showed up representing Jersey Shore, Real Housewives of New Jersey, Cake Boss. They were piling in (and the ladies were getting a bit annoyed at having their red bottoms sinking into the grounds - again the VIP area was in a party tent). As they were arriving, we were drinking and holding our spots in front of the VIP table area reserved for the entity known as "The Warlock", who, as we heard from many sources, BOMBED at Radio City Music Hall.. Of course, the big question was "What was he doing during this show?" Sad thing is, NO ONE could give a direct answer. No one could also give a direct answer to "Why did you buy tickets to this man's show, knowing NOTHING about what he was going to do? I guess it all comes down to the things people do in blind faith that their heroes will pull through.
As I was standing around, preparing myself to getting the money shot that I needed for this article, I noticed that a lot of people in attendance (particularly men) were armed with Charlie Sheen-themed items (t-shirts, posters) with intention to getting them signed. One man, Tom, a middle-aged investment banker who drove from CT, dressed in khakis, button down shirt, tie and a t-shirt overtop with Charlie Sheen's battle cry "Duh, Winning" blazed across the chest, proclaimed Charlie Sheen as a "hero of his time.”I tried not to judge him much (I did throw him a side-eye, I admit), especially since he ended up buying me and my friend a jello shot and Belvedere-cran drinks and held our spaces while we went to use the port-o-potty. But it does makes you wonder about the mentality of those that peg a unstable, unemployed man that abuses drugs and women as a hero.
When Tom's "hero" finally arrived (and may I note, he arrived at 1:20 am, 40 minutes prior to the club closing), a big disappointment came onto him and those that waited so long to glaze their eyes onto him (and those of us that just wanted to get a good shot of him before running home to their warm beds. (Again, this all took placed in a damn party tent in 38 degree temps, next to the waterfront.) Among a wall of bouncers, that had intent of blocking the view of those that paid their money to catch a sight of the man of the hour, Charlie Sheen scurried into a VIP table tent, without giving his attendees even a hand gesture. A number of the photographers were asking each other "Did you get him?" as whining from his fans were heard loud and clear.
After realizing that I wasn't getting a better shot and that Charlie Sheen wasn't coming out anytime soon (I was told I was wrong later on, that he did come out and say a few words to the crowd, including bashing the crowd that attended the Radio City Music Hall "gig"). I decided to cut my losses and headed on over to the Valet parking in hopes of avoiding the big rush. Which ended up being a good thing, for things started getting hairy as soon as I handed my claim ticket to the valet. It turns out that when the town of Carlstadt found out about the party taking place, they tried all that they could to stop the party due to Sheen's reputation. When that didn't work, they decided to ensure that nothing bad happened. The police department, which normally has at least three cops on overnight duty, bumped it up to ten. They also involved the local towns surrounding the area and stationed cops at all major roadways, creating checkpoints. Pretty much, if you were drinking and caught behind the wheel, you were going to jail or worse. And well, if you were Charlie Sheen, you were going to be made an example for the newspapers. But then again, he's used to that, no?
